Lufthansa Pilots Suspend Strike

Lufthansa plans to operate just over half its scheduled 1,800 flights Feb. 23 after pilots suspended their four day strike.

The German carrier said it expects to return to a full schedule on Friday after the pilots union Vereinigung Cockpit late on Monday agreed to suspend the strike by over 4,000 pilots until March 8.

Lufthansa Cargo has only lost one freighter service -- from Frankfurt to Bangalore and Madras, India -- as managers with pilots licenses stepped in to fly its MD-11 freighters.

The suspension of the strike means the second cancelled freighter service -- from Frankfurt to Bahrain-Sharjah-Hong Kong -- will operate as scheduled on Thursday.

The strike and ensuing disruption will, however, hit cargo carried in the holds of Lufthansa's passenger aircraft.

Lufthansa and the pilots union agreed at a court hearing Monday to resume negotiations over wages and job security.

The union fears Lufthansa will attempt to cut costs by transferring pilots' jobs to lower paying subsidiaries such as Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa Italia and the UK's BMI.

Lufthansa has targeted $1.35 billion of annual cost savings by 2011.

Contact Bruce Barnard at brucebarnard47@hotmail.com.