Eployees of some European airlines are striking over similar concerns--and it's sure to put a kink in more than a few travel plans.
It's going to be a bumpy ride for passengers due to fly with Lufthansa over the next few days.
Pilots with the German carrier began a four-day strike today after negotiations failed to stop Lufthansa cutting staff costs.
At Frankfurt airport, passengers have been venting their frustration with only about a third of planes due to take off.
FRANCESCO, TRAVELLER, SAYING (German):
"I was here on holiday and today I have to be at work at three o' clock but I have no flight back to Italy. I don't know. Thank you Lufthansa. We fly very well, but where!"
The pilots' fear jobs will go to foreign subsidiaries such as Austrian Airlines or Lufthansa Italia, where wages are lower.
Over the weekend, the union offered new negotiations, but Lufthansa said it would not resume talks unless demands for what it saw as undue influence on managerial decisions, were dropped.
Lufthansa has said it was prepared to guarantee all pilots' jobs until the end of 2012 and could extend the guarantee until 2013 or 2014 if pilots were willing to forego pay rises for more than 12 months.
German rail is running additional trains to deal with passengers who were booked on internal flights.
A back up plan is in operation at the Cologn/Bonn airport with additional planes from other airlines ferrying passengers to their destinations.
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The strike will cost Lufthansa about 100 million euros in cash, in addition to lost ticket sales and possible damage to its reputation.
Meanwhile in the UK, an annoucement is expected on Monday, that British Airways' cabin crew have voted for strike action, over similar concerns.
The union representing cabin crew lost its hearing on Friday to stop BA imposing cost-cutting plans and the courts also stopped strike action last Christmas which had threatened to strand about a million passengers.
