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Lemonfool opinion: BA or Lufthansa - who are more/less likely to strike?

Posted: February 8th, 2017, 9:25 am
by Satsuma
Everything else about the flights I am choosing between is broadly the same, so it really boils down to who I think are least likely to down tools, as a strike would wreck my plans for a 3 day trip.

I know BA have a bit of an ongoing thing about strikes at the moment with short haul bearing the brunt (i.e. my trip). They generally have to give notice but the net result is still potentially no flight/s.
But Lufthansa has a strong union and they can strike almost at the drop of a hat so it would be a last minute issue.

I have flown both and would be happy with either. Lufthansa would be LHR T2, BA T5.

Any opinions that would sway me one way or t'other?

TIA
Sats

Re: Lemonfool opinion: BA or Lufthansa - who are more/less likely to strike?

Posted: February 8th, 2017, 10:33 am
by Satsuma
That's all well and good if I didn't have the minor annoyance of wanting to fly to and from the places I do, given neither Easyjet or Rynaair service those routes.

So as per my OP, it's Lufthansa or BA.

Re: Lemonfool opinion: BA or Lufthansa - who are more/less likely to strike?

Posted: February 8th, 2017, 10:43 am
by Hardgrafter
If you're going to Frankfurt area from London, then going by Eurostar / ICE is an option to consider.

Re: Lemonfool opinion: BA or Lufthansa - who are more/less likely to strike?

Posted: February 8th, 2017, 10:58 am
by UncleIan
To be honest, it's a coin toss. I'd probably go with Lufthansa, maybe. Their last strike seemed to be in November. BA, a few days ago.

Re: Lemonfool opinion: BA or Lufthansa - who are more/less likely to strike?

Posted: February 8th, 2017, 11:00 am
by Satsuma
Thanks but the travel time (8hrs+) makes train prohibitive.

Honestly, I really do want/"need" to fly either BA or Lufthansa (fares are dead cheap at moment too) :)

As the latest post (appeared while typing this) says, it is a coin toss - just wondered if anyone had heard anything I hadn't.
I might go for Lufthansa for a change and also because I reckon German ATC look more kindly on one of their own!

Re: Lemonfool opinion: BA or Lufthansa - who are more/less likely to strike?

Posted: February 8th, 2017, 1:46 pm
by Lootman
It's a coin toss. Any European airline can potentially go on strike. Not to mention the ground or ATC folks, in which case it won't matter which airline you're on.

I'm assuming here that you want/need to fly from Heathrow. Have you looked to see if there are any "fifth freedom" routes linking LHR and FRA? I flew Garuda from LHR to AMS once and it was so much better than a normal short-haul flight. I've also flown LHR-FRA on a US airline but that was a good time ago and may not still operate.

Air Berlin also fly that route, I believe, but they are part of the OneWorld family, so I'm not sure how a BA strike might affect them.

Re: Lemonfool opinion: BA or Lufthansa - who are more/less likely to strike?

Posted: February 17th, 2017, 2:05 pm
by DiamondEcho
Sorry a bit late to this one. I'd prefer BA to LH any day.
Also note, especially if you're connecting via Frankfurt which I consider a nightmare of an airport. Because a) it's labyrinthine and the connections between terminals can mean walking miles. b) During the summer thunder storms that cause widespread cancellations appear pretty common. The knock-on from this is total chaos, being bussed overnight to distant crappy hotels, missed connections etc. Dealing with all of that if German is not a solid language for the traveller is not fun... [all in my direct experience].

Re: Lemonfool opinion: BA or Lufthansa - who are more/less likely to strike?

Posted: February 19th, 2017, 8:17 am
by youfoolishboy
If I am not too late I have experienced the strikes with both airlines first half last year I was commuting from Munich and Frankfurt to UK later in the year till now Bologna. I was in Munich when I was caught by Lufthansa strike and I called as soon as I knew about it to the UK Lufthansa helpdesk and they transferred, after some persuasion that staying overnight was not an option, to a flight home via Switzerland. it added a couple of hours to the trip. BA I was flying from Bologna on the same day as a colleague he was booked on the early morning flight but it was called off and he was bumped on to the lunchtime flight my evening flight was not effected. My advice take the one with the most flights connections from the city you are going to goto to give you the most options of changing last minute, I am guessing Germany therefore Lufthansa.