Pilots at Lufthansa long-haul fleet to strike

BERLIN (AP) — A planned strike by pilots at Lufthansa has been expanded to include a one-day walkout Tuesday at the German airline’s long-haul fleet.

The Vereinigung Cockpit union already had announced a 35-hour strike at Lufthansa’s short-haul fleet starting mid-Monday, the latest in a string of walkouts over retirement benefits. It expanded that to target long-haul services from 6 a.m. (0400 GMT) to midnight (2200 GMT) Tuesday.

The two sides are fighting over the pilots’ demand that Lufthansa keep paying a transition payment for those wanting to retire early. The airline, facing tough competition from European budget airlines and major Gulf carriers, wants to cut those payments.

The Lufthansa walkout starts hours after train drivers at Germany’s national railway ended a two-day walkout in an unrelated pay dispute.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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