August 28, 2014
FRANKFURT (AFP) - Pilots of the Lufthansa subsidiary Germanwings are to strike on Friday in pursuit of their demands for better early retirement provisions, their union announced on Thursday.
The pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit said in a statement it is "planning... strikes for all Germanwings flights between 6:00 am and midday (0400-1000 GMT) departing from all German airports."
Cockpit had already said last week that it was prepared to stage walkouts over its demands for better provisions for pilots nearing retirement age.
"At the same time, Cockpit has said it is prepared to reach an agreement at any time to avert the strikes," it said.
Talks were scheduled to take place on Thursday and "should an agreement be reached, the strike will naturally not take place," the union said.
Cockpit already grounded thousands of flights of the parent company Lufthansa in March in pursuit of its demands.
