Discover airline strike will affect flights to La Romana and Punta Cana one day before Christmas Eve

Today, the pilots’ union, Vereinigung Cockpit (VC), has called for a warning strike among its members at Discover, a subsidiary of Lufthansa, just one day before Christmas Eve. This strike is expected to impact several flights to Spain and the Dominican Republic, as reported by media outlets.

On Saturday, all flights operated by the Airbus A320 and A330 fleet departing from Frankfurt or Munich will be subject to the strike from 08:00 (07:00 GMT) to 1:00 p.m. (12:00 GMT). Affected destinations include Spanish locations like Mallorca, La Palma, Gran Canaria, and Lanzarote, as well as the Dominican Republic’s La Romana and Punta Cana, along with connections to US airports Fort Myers and Tampa.

The exact number of affected passengers has not been communicated by either the union or Discover. A spokesperson for Discover stated, “Our priority is to offer all our customers the possibility of traveling.” They mentioned the airline’s plans to operate flights on the same day once the strike concludes or to facilitate passengers in changing their reservations to other airlines.

The reason behind the strike, according to the union, is the deadlock in negotiations for the first collective agreement for pilots at the Lufthansa subsidiary, which was newly established in July 2021. This dispute has affected the 24 planes that operate out of Frankfurt and Munich.

The union and employers had reportedly come close to reaching at least a partial agreement before. However, the union accused the employer of employing “delaying tactics” by withdrawing concessions at the last minute while simultaneously introducing new conditions for collective bargaining.

On the other hand, the airline spoke of “very good progress in talks” toward a collective agreement, with “partial agreements” already in place and a commitment to continue negotiations in January with the aim of reaching a swift resolution, according to a spokesperson.