German cabin-crew union UFO called for more strikes at Deutsche Lufthansa AG's low-cost Germanwings unit after the two sides failed to settle a long-running dispute.
Workers at Germanwings, which now operates under the Eurowings umbrella, will strike between December 30th and January 1st, the union said.
Further strike action will be announced after January 2nd, 2020.
"We had hoped up until the last minute to be able to bring better news today," union representative Daniel Flohr said in the YouTube video announcing the plan. "We have no choice now but to defend our interests through strike action."
The Germanwings brand was folded into Lufthansa’s Eurowings group after a deadly 2015 crash. Passengers are only able to book through the Eurowings brand. A Lufthansa representative said the company will inform travellers whether their flights are affected by the strike action.
The dispute between Lufthansa and its cabin crew has been going on for several months. The parties hammered out a deal on pay earlier this month, but failed to reach an agreement on working conditions.
Cabin-crew members held strikes in November, leading to the cancellation of about 1,300 flights. The strife is coming at a difficult time for Lufthansa, which warned in July that competition from low-cost carriers would have a negative impact on its business in the second half of the year.
Airlines globally are dealing with a decline in travellers as well as a drop in cargo caused by slowing economic growth and trade wars. UFO represents the interests of more than 30,000 cabin crew in Germany. – Bloomberg