FRANKFURT, Germany, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- More than 1,000 Lufthansa flights were canceled Monday due to the longest cabin crew strike in the airline's history.
The German air carrier was forced to cancel 1,000 flights -- roughly one third of its schedule -- from its three main hubs of Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Munich as the company struggles to deal with a labor dispute that started Friday. About 113,000 passengers were stranded.
Cabin staff set out on a week-long walkout on Friday over a pension dispute. About 800 flights were canceled over the weekend. The airline made an improved proposal on Monday evening, an overall offer to improve pay by 6 percent to try and end the strike, but so far the two sides cannot reach an agreement on pay or pension.
The airline promised it was "doing everything it can to mitigate the impact of this utterly excessive action on its customers as much as possible," an emailed statement said Sunday. Lufthansa management is "always ready for the resumption of talks."
Lufthansa has been in a lengthy scuffle with its pilots as well. Pilots have gone on strike multiple times over the last year and a half about an early retirement package.
The flight attendant's union vowed to strike until Nov. 13, criticizing the airline for its handling of labor while the company increased its earnings forecast for the year and dropping oil prices helped Lufthansa to a 51 percent jump in third-quarter profit.
