Lufthansa, union reach wage deal to end strike

The German airline Lufthansa has reached a wage agreement with staff to end a strike that has caused hundreds of flight cancellations, both sides said yesterday.

Trade union Verdi said it planned to abandon the strike from early on Saturday after reaching the deal.

However, Lufthansa said on its website it would take two weeks before it returned to operating its normal flight schedule as checks to aircraft had been backed up during the strike.

Some 90 per cent of European flights would run in the next four days.

Under the deal, Lufthansa ground staff will get a 5.1 per cent pay rise backdated to July 1 and a further 2.3 per cent rise from July 2009.

They will also receive a one-off payment, the airline said.

The deal would last 21 months and cabin staff pay would rise in line with that of ground staff, Lufthansa said.