Happy Tuesday, April 1, lighting industry!

Unfortunately this isn’t an April Fools joke — Lufthansa pilots are striking on April 2-4, 2014, and it is affecting about 3,800 flights around the world on Lufthansa Airlines.  If you’re a touring or trade show personnel, you might want to check this out.

From the Lufthansa website:

Announced strike of the pilots union from April, 2nd – 4th, 2014

As a result of strike actions, which the German pilots union “Vereinigung Cockpit” (VC) has announced at Lufthansa, Lufthansa Cargo and Germanwings from Wednesday, April 2nd 2014, to Friday, April 4th 2014, Lufthansa will reduce its schedule significantly.

Flights of the Lufthansa Group Airlines Eurowings, Lufthansa CityLine, Air Dolomiti, Swiss, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines are excepted from the strikes and schedule adjustments.

Check currently cancelled flights under Cancelled flights.

Passengers flying with Germanwings (4U) will find all relevant information here: Latest news

Booking status / alternative travel options

Affected passengers please check the status of their booking prior to departure at My bookings.

Passengers travelling within Germany whose flights have been cancelled due to the strike may alternatively travel by train with Deutsche Bahn. To do this, please exchange your etix for a train ticket online or mobile at My bookings or at a Lufthansa check in machine.

Passengers, whose flights have been cancelled and their tickets have been purchased on LH.com, at a Lufthansa ticket counter or via phone at the Lufthansa Service Center may also refund their ticket via this e-mail form.

If your flight has been cancelled and you cannot use the self-service please contact one of ourService Centers toll-free

Germany +49 800 850 60 70
Great Britain +44 800 358 0538
France +33 805 98 0097
Spain +34 900 901 465
Italy +39 800 089 775
Russia +7 88003334265
or one of our local phone numbers.

Currently we are experiencing an exceptionally high volume of calls. In connection with that, a technical problem with the phone system of our Service Center occurred. This results in an increase in waiting times as well as individual terminations of calls through the system. We are doing all possible to work on a solution and apologise for the inconvenience.

Exception: All Germanwings flights operated by Eurowings are not affected by the strike.

Passengers holding a Lufthansa/SWISS/Austrian Airlines or Brussels Airlines ticket for flights on April 2nd – April 4th, 2014 from/to/via Germany, and whose flights are not cancelled, are also permitted torebook their flight once free of charge, provided that:

– the ticket was issued on/before March 28th, 2014
– the new travel date is on/before September 30th, 2014
– the original ticket class remains
– all other fare conditions are adhered to
Frequently asked questions

Frequently asked questions regarding flight disruptions can be found here.