Lufthansa Pilot Strike Grounds 800 Flights Across Germany, Impacting 100,000 Passengers

A strike by the union representing Lufthansa, Lufthansa CityLine, and Eurowings pilots is causing headaches for travelers flying out of all major German airports on Monday.

Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) announced on Saturday that it was planning a short-notice strike for Monday, April 13, for those three airlines, and Tuesday, April 14, just for Lufthansa and Lufthansa CityLine. The strike is a reaction to what the union described as a lack of willingness to negotiate on the part of Lufthansa management.

The strike, which comes just days after a separate walkout by Lufthansa’s flight attendants, is bringing air travel to an effective standstill in Germany. Lufthansa expects to operate only about one-third of its short-haul schedule and 50% of long-haul routes. Eurowings expects to operate about 60% of its flights today.

According to Lufthansa, a total of 800 flights have been cancelled throughout the country on Monday, affecting an estimated 100,000 passengers. Most of the disruption is occurring at Frankfurt (FRA) and Munich (MUC), Lufthansa’s primary hubs, where roughly one-third of all scheduled flights are grounded.

Secondary airports are also seeing significant thinning of their schedules. Berlin-Brandenburg (BER), Hamburg (HAM), and Dusseldorf (DUS) have all reported cancellations and delays as the 48-hour walkout continues.

The strike is only impacting Lufthansa, Lufthansa CityLine, and Eurowings. Carriers such as SWISS, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Air Dolomiti, Discover, Edelweiss, and Lufthansa City Airlines are not affected.

Lufthansa has introduced flexible policies for those affected by the disruption. Passengers with tickets issued on or before April 11, 2026, for flights on April 13 or 14, can rebook their travel to any date through April 21, 2026, free of charge.

Travelers can also request a full refund of their ticket price.For passengers on domestic German flights that have been cancelled, Lufthansa is offering the option to convert flight tickets into Deutsche Bahn train tickets at no extra cost.