On 12 and 13 March 2026, Lufthansa pilots are staging a 48-hour strike involving Lufthansa Passenger Airlines, Lufthansa Cargo and the regional subsidiary Lufthansa CityLine, with repercussions for numerous flights departing from German airports. The action was called by the pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit after several rounds of negotiations with the Lufthansa Group broke down over two issues: the company pension scheme for pilots at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo, and the pay agreement for CityLine pilots. On the morning of 12 March the strike mainly affected flights departing from Germany, the main hub of Lufthansa’s global network, centred on the airports of Frankfurt and Munich. Disruption is expected across the entire European and intercontinental network, as well as on feeder services operated by regional airlines.
The stoppage also affects cargo transport, both belly freight and dedicated cargo operations. In this context, Frankfurt is one of Europe’s main logistics hubs for air freight, with connections to North America, Asia and the Middle East. Flight cancellations or reductions in cargo services could therefore have repercussions for international supply chains, particularly for urgent shipments and sectors that rely heavily on air transport, such as pharmaceuticals, electronics and industrial components.
The dispute comes against a backdrop of already strained relations between the company and its pilots. On 12 February 2026 a previous day of strike action led to the cancellation of hundreds of flights and disrupted travel for more than 100,000 passengers, without producing an agreement on the pension issue. After that episode, up to seven rounds of negotiations took place, along with a mediation attempt, but none produced a proposal that the union considered negotiable.
Union demands operate on two levels. For pilots at Lufthansa and Lufthansa Cargo, the objective is to strengthen pension benefits and rebalance retirement risk in favour of employees. For Lufthansa CityLine, the dispute concerns the definition of a new pay agreement that includes salary increases and greater certainty regarding employment conditions.
The key player on the labour side is Vereinigung Cockpit, the main German pilots’ union representing flight crews within the Lufthansa Group. In public statements, president Andreas Pinheiro and Arne Karstens, spokesperson for the negotiating committee, accused Lufthansa of limiting itself to declarations of willingness to engage in dialogue without presenting concrete improvements to the company pension system.
The union has also launched a vote among Eurowings pilots to assess further protest action, a signal that the dispute could spread across the wider group. Lufthansa management has described the escalation of strike action as incomprehensible at a time when negotiations are still formally open. The company says it has shown willingness to engage in dialogue, while the union maintains that the proposals presented so far do not offer adequate improvements on pensions or pay.
