Germany is bracing for a massive travel meltdown as Lufthansa pilots and cabin crew prepare to stage a coordinated 24 hour strike on Thursday, 12 February 2026, a move that will cripple operations at Frankfurt and Munich and send shockwaves through air travel across Europe and beyond. The unprecedented joint action, rooted in disputes over pensions, job security and restructuring plans, threatens to ground hundreds of flights, disrupt cargo operations and leave tens of thousands of passengers scrambling for alternatives at the height of the winter travel season.
What Is Happening on February 12
The strike, called by the pilots’ union Vereinigung Cockpit and the cabin crew union UFO, is scheduled to run from 00:01 to 23:59 local time on Thursday, 12 February 2026. During this 24 hour period, virtually all departures operated by Lufthansa’s core brand from German airports are expected to be affected, along with flights operated by Lufthansa Cargo and the regional arm Lufthansa CityLine.
Frankfurt Airport and Munich Airport, Lufthansa’s main intercontinental hubs, will bear the brunt of the disruption. These airports function as central switching points for passengers connecting between Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East. A large share of these connections, especially on short and medium haul routes within Europe, are scheduled to be either canceled or severely delayed, creating a domino effect that will ripple through airline networks worldwide.
Early estimates from aviation analysts and passenger rights organizations suggest that several hundred flights could be grounded in a single day, affecting tens of thousands of travelers. By late Wednesday, Lufthansa had already begun proactively canceling flights from the Thursday schedule and rebooking passengers where possible, in an attempt to limit chaotic scenes at airport terminals when the walkout begins.
Why Lufthansa Staff Are Walking Out
At the heart of the conflict is a deepening rift over retirement benefits, job security and the future structure of Lufthansa’s short and medium haul operations. For pilots, the central issue is the erosion of company pension schemes. Until 2017, flight crews benefited from a traditional defined benefit system, but this was replaced by a capital market funded model. The unions argue that this change has shifted too much risk onto employees and left long serving staff worse off.
Vereinigung Cockpit is demanding a substantial increase in employer pension contributions to restore what it sees as fairness and predictability to pilots’ retirement planning. After seven rounds of negotiations failed to produce an agreement, the union moved to strike, saying there was no realistic prospect of a settlement without industrial pressure. Lufthansa management insists that the union’s demands would drive pension costs to unsustainable levels at a time when the airline is still rebuilding from the financial damage of the pandemic and facing stiff competition in Europe’s cutthroat market.
For cabin crew, represented primarily by UFO, the strike is also a protest against planned restructuring steps that include the effective winding down of Lufthansa CityLine flight operations. The closure of this regional subsidiary, which plays a vital role in feeding Frankfurt and Munich hubs with passengers from smaller European cities, would place around 800 cabin crew jobs at risk. Union officials accuse management of refusing to negotiate a robust social plan that would offer severance, retraining or redeployment guarantees for affected staff.
How Frankfurt and Munich Will Be Affected
Frankfurt and Munich are likely to see some of the most severe disruptions anywhere in Europe on Thursday. As Lufthansa’s two main hubs, they are heavily dependent on the airline’s dense web of feeder flights that collect passengers from cities across Germany and neighbouring countries before distributing them on long haul routes. With a large portion of these feeder flights canceled, many connecting itineraries will simply become impossible to operate.
At Frankfurt, where Lufthansa accounts for a dominant share of takeoffs and landings, airport operations teams are preparing for large numbers of stranded passengers and congested terminals. Check in areas for the airline’s domestic and European services are expected to be particularly crowded early on Thursday, as some travelers arrive unaware of the extent of the cancellations or hoping for last minute rebookings. Ground staff will be working with reduced flight schedules and improvised re routing, but capacity on alternative carriers and remaining services will quickly be exhausted.
Munich, Lufthansa’s second hub and a key transit point for flights to Southern and Eastern Europe as well as Asia, is facing a similar scenario. Many short haul services operated by Lufthansa CityLine that connect regional markets to Munich will not depart at all. The resulting shortage of incoming passengers will force knock on cancellations of onward flights, even in cases where aircraft and crew might otherwise have been available. Delays and diversions are likely to spill into Friday as aircraft and crews are repositioned and schedules slowly reset.
Impact on Other German Airports and European Connections
Although Frankfurt and Munich are the focus of global attention, the strike will not be confined to those two hubs. The unions have targeted all departures from German airports operated by Lufthansa and Lufthansa CityLine, which means cities such as Hamburg, Berlin, Düsseldorf, Cologne, Stuttgart, Bremen and Hanover will also be affected. On many of these routes, Lufthansa is a primary or even dominant carrier, leaving travelers with limited alternatives at short notice.
Regional airports that depend on Lufthansa CityLine to maintain links to the global network will be particularly vulnerable. With CityLine’s program heavily impacted, flights that normally feed passengers into Frankfurt and Munich for onward journeys will either be reduced or canceled outright. This will disrupt not only point to point travelers but also those holding through tickets to long haul destinations in North America, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, potentially stranding passengers far from home or their intended destination.
The disruption will extend far beyond Germany’s borders. Many European cities, especially business hubs such as London, Paris, Brussels, Milan and Zurich, have multiple daily Lufthansa services that serve both local traffic and connection flows. Cancellations on Thursday will limit options for travelers relying on Germany as a transfer point. Even competing carriers may feel indirect effects, as displaced passengers try to rebook onto remaining seats with other airlines, driving up loads and potentially pushing fares higher on some routes.
What Travelers Need To Do Now
Passengers with tickets on Lufthansa or Lufthansa CityLine for travel on Thursday, 12 February 2026, should act immediately to clarify their situation. The airline has begun notifying affected customers by text message and email where contact details are available in bookings. However, not all contact data is complete or up to date, and some travelers may only realize the scale of the disruption when they attempt to check in.
The first step for any passenger is to verify flight status before setting off for the airport. Lufthansa is offering free rebooking or refunds for flights that are canceled, and it has activated its irregular operations policy that allows many changes to be made without additional fees. Where possible, the airline is attempting to place customers on alternative departures with Lufthansa Group carriers such as Austrian Airlines, SWISS and Brussels Airlines, or on partner airlines, though space is already tight due to the concentration of cancellations on a single day.
Domestic passengers within Germany may be able to switch to rail services operated by Deutsche Bahn, with some ticket conversion options traditionally made available during major disruptions. Given the likelihood of congested trains and limited seats at peak times, early planning is vital. Travelers should bring printed or digital copies of their booking confirmations, be prepared for long waiting times at customer service desks and consider allowing additional time for connections between modes of transport.
Your Rights to Refunds, Rebooking and Compensation
Under European passenger rights rules, travelers whose flights are canceled are generally entitled to a choice between rebooking at the earliest opportunity, rebooking at a later date of their choice subject to seat availability, or a full refund for the unused portion of their journey. This applies even during strikes, provided the flight falls within the legal framework and the airline is the contracting carrier on the ticket.
In addition to rebooking or refunds, passengers may also have a right to financial compensation if their flight is canceled at short notice or significantly delayed, unless the airline can show that the disruption was caused by extraordinary circumstances beyond its control. Courts have previously ruled that many internal labor disputes do not automatically qualify as extraordinary, but each case is fact specific and airlines frequently contest compensation claims arising from strikes, arguing that they could not have foreseen or avoided the industrial action.
Regardless of any dispute over compensation, Lufthansa is obliged to provide care and assistance during the disruption. This typically includes meals and refreshments in reasonable relation to waiting time, hotel accommodation where an overnight stay becomes necessary, and transport between the airport and the place of accommodation. To benefit from these rights, passengers are strongly advised to keep all receipts, document communications with the airline and avoid making independent changes to their travel plans without first checking how this might affect their entitlements.
Broader Implications for German and European Aviation
The strike at Lufthansa is unfolding against a wider backdrop of labor unrest and structural change in Europe’s aviation sector. Airlines and airport operators in Italy, France, Belgium and New Zealand have also faced recent strikes over wages, working conditions and restructuring programs, turning mid February into an unusually turbulent period for international travel. For Germany, which positions itself as a stable and reliable gateway to Europe, the image of grounded jets and packed terminals at Frankfurt and Munich carries particular symbolic weight.
For Lufthansa, the walkout represents a serious challenge to its efforts to restore profitability while investing in new aircraft, digital services and premium products. The airline has stressed that it needs flexibility in staffing and pension arrangements to compete with low cost carriers in Europe and state backed rivals from the Gulf. Unions counter that repeated cost cutting efforts, outsourcing and changes to long standing benefit structures have eroded trust and undermined loyalty among staff who guided the company through the pandemic.
In the medium term, the resolution of the pension dispute and the future of Lufthansa CityLine will shape not just the airline’s balance sheet but also its network strategy. If the regional subsidiary is wound down without a robust social plan, further labor conflicts are likely, and connectivity for smaller German and European cities could suffer. Conversely, a negotiated settlement that combines cost savings with meaningful protections for staff could set a more stable foundation for growth, even as competitive pressures intensify.
What to Expect After the Strike
While the formal strike is limited to 24 hours on Thursday, 12 February, its effects will not end at midnight. With aircraft and crews out of position and a large number of passengers requiring rebooking, disruptions are expected to spill over into Friday and potentially the weekend. Lufthansa has said it aims to restore normal operations as quickly as possible, but recovery from a near standstill at two major hubs is a complex logistical undertaking.
Travelers with flights on Friday, 13 February or Saturday, 14 February should therefore remain alert to possible schedule changes, even if their flights have not yet been flagged as at risk. Some long haul services that rely on aircraft and crews arriving from Germany on Thursday may need to depart late, operate with substituted aircraft or, in isolated cases, be canceled altogether. Passengers planning tight connections, especially between non affiliated carriers, may want to build in extra buffer time or consider more flexible arrangements.
For now, the most important steps for travelers are to stay informed, monitor their bookings closely and keep all options open. As negotiations between Lufthansa and its unions continue in the background, there remains hope that the shock of a nationwide shutdown will push both sides back to the bargaining table with renewed urgency. Until a sustainable compromise is reached, however, Germany’s role as a dependable aviation hub will remain under pressure, and passengers will need to factor that uncertainty into their travel plans.