Pilots and cabin crew vote to strike at Lufthansa subsidiary Discover

The trade unions representing pilots and cabin crew have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike in separate ballots at Lufthansa holiday subsidiary Discover, union officials said on Wednesday.

Cockpit, which represents pilots, and UFO, which represents cabin crew, have not set a date for a possible strike.

The two unions work closely together to bypass existing pay agreements struck between Lufthansa and Germany's large services union, Verdi, which they see as a competitor union.

Discover has a staff complement of almost 2,000, including 500 pilots and 1,400 cabin crew, with the remainder in administration.

Cockpit pay expert Marcel Gröls said that the German constitution allowed a company's employees the right to decide themselves who should represent them.

Cockpit members had decided by a clear majority that they would not accept pay agreements made by employers over their heads with a union that they, the employers, preferred.

At UFO, 91.8% of those voting backed a strike, while the figure was 81% at Cockpit.

The vote means that unlimited strikes can now be called at Discover Airlines, which operates 27 planes based at Munich and Frankfurt flying to holiday destinations in Europe and further afield. The airline plans to expand its fleet to 33 planes by mid-2027.

While the two unions did not reveal details of how they would pursue the conflict, they made clear that pilots and cabin crew would coordinate. They did not rule out solidarity strikes at the much larger parent company.