Lufthansa flights hit by strikes Monday and Tuesday

BERLIN - Agence France-Presse

Picture taken on September 10, 2014 shows aircrafts of German airline Lufthansa standing at the park position at the Franz-Josef-Strauss-Airport in Munich, southern Germany, during a strike of pilots. AFP Photo

Pilots for Lufthansa are to hold a one-day strike Tuesday that will hit long-haul flights operated by the German carrier, Europe's largest, their union said.
      
The stoppage will deepen strike action at Lufthansa, already set to begin on Monday with a previously announced 35-hour strike impacting most of its short- and medium-haul flights.
      
The strike will not affect Lufthansa's international subsidiaries Swiss and Austrian Airlines.
      
The latest action is the ninth to buffet Lufthansa in less than two months, launched by pilots in a bid to keep an early retirement scheme that the management wants to phase out in order to reduce costs.
      
The strike on shorter flights was expected to affect 200,000 passengers taking 2,150 flights on Monday.        

Lufthansa was drafting in other pilots -- especially those with management positions -- to ensure a third of scheduled services still operate.
      
The flight chaos compounds disruptions faced by rail passengers in Germany after a large scale strike over the weekend stopped many trains. The GDL train drivers' union was demanding more pay and shorter hours.
      
Berlin is working on legislation to stop small groups of employees from paralysing large parts of the country's infrastructure, such as rail and air travel. A draft law is expected in November.