Deutsche Lufthansa AG will cancel 876 of 3,000 scheduled flights Wednesday because of a pilots' strike, Germany's flagship carrier said Tuesday.
The canceled flights include 51 intercontinental flights and will affect some 100,000 passengers, Germany's biggest airline said. These include at least seven U.S.-bound flights one day ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Customers affected by the cancellations can change or cancel their bookings at no cost, according to the airline, which published a special flight schedule on its website.
Flights operated by Eurowings, Germanwings, Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, Swiss and Brussels Airlines won't be affected by the strike, Lufthansa said. Austrian and Swiss airlines are currently reviewing options to add German flights to their normal schedule.
Around 2,124 of 3,000 daily flights will take place, Lufthansa said. It plans to operate at least nine intercontinental flights Wednesday.
A day-long strike typically costs the carrier slightly more than $1 million.
Wednesday's flights from Frankfurt to Chicago, Houston, Miami, Washington, New Delhi and Tokyo-Haneda will take place as scheduled, the carrier said. From Munich, flights to San Francisco, Newark, N.J., and Charlotte, N.C., will operate Wednesday.
Flights to Hong Kong and Shanghai will be delayed to Thursday, it said.
Lufthansa also asked a German labor court to issue a temporary injunction against the pilots' strike. The court denied the motion Tuesday, allowing the strike to go ahead. Lufthansa said it would appeal.
On Monday, the union representing 5,400 Lufthansa pilots, Vereinigung Cockpit, called for a 24-hour strike Wednesday to enhance pressure in a long-lasting dispute over wages, one of the company's many labor disputes.
Lufthansa's long- and short-haul flights departing Germany between 2301 GMT Tuesday and 2259 GMT Wednesday will be affected by the walkout, the labor union said.
A week ago, it warned staff could strike at any time after wage talks failed. Another key point of contention in the labor dispute is early retirement packages for Lufthansa pilots.
The carrier canceled a series of flights last year because its pilots went on strike.
Still, Lufthansa was able to resolve a similar dispute with the cabin crew union UFO last year after a one-week strike through to Nov. 13, the longest in the airline's history, which resulted in roughly 4,700 flight cancellations.
Elsewhere on Tuesday, cabin crew at Lufthansa's low-cost carrier Eurowings, which is also in a labor dispute with the employer, staged strikes at Hamburg and Dü sseldorf airports between 0400 GMT and 1900 GMT.
Airport representatives said in Hamburg, Eurowings had canceled 14 of the 40 scheduled arrivals and departures during that time. In Dü sseldorf, 52 of 94 departures and arrivals were canceled.
