Lufthansa, Germanwings face new pilot strikes Wednesday

German airlines Lufthansa and Germanwings will be hit by a new 24-hour walkout by pilots on Wednesday, grounding short- and medium-haul flights across Germany, unions and management said.
The pilots' union Cockpit called on its members to stop work between 2301 GMT on Tuesday and 2259 GMT on Wednesday in a long-running dispute over early retirement provisions.
Cockpit had originally said the industrial action would only affect Lufthansa itself and not its Germanwings and Eurowings subsidiaries.
But Lufthansa said in a separate statement that flights operated by Germanwings would indeed be affected.
"Despite the strike, the Lufthansa group will be able to operate most of its around 3,000 daily services and offer most passengers alternatives on other flights," Lufthansa said.
"Overall, the airlines of the Lufthansa group will be able to operate around two thirds of its timetabled flights."
Cockpit staged a long series of walkouts last year over management plans to change the pilots' transitional pension arrangements.
Currently, pilots can retire at 55 and receive up to 60 percent of their pay until they reach the statutory retirement age of 65.
Lufthansa wants to scrap the arrangement.