AlQa'dah 14, 1435, September 09, 2014, SPA -- Lufthansa pilots are to strike on Wednesday for the third time in two weeks, stepping up their industrial action against the German airline's planned new early retirement scheme, dpa reported. The pilots will walk off the job for eight-hours at Munich airport starting at 0800 GMT, the Vereinigung Cockpit union said on Tuesday. Industrial action by the pilots last week resulted in the airline being forced to cancel 218 flights from Frankfurt airport. A week earlier a strike by pilots employed by Lufthansa's budget offshoot Germanwings led to the cancellation of 116 domestic flights at the end of the summer vacation. The 5,400 pilots employed at Lufthansa, Germanwings and Lufthansa Cargo want the company to maintain its current retirement benefits system, under which they can retire at 55 and continue to receive part of their wages. Lufthansa wants to scrap the plan. Lufthansa pilots staged a three-day strike in April in pursuit of their demands for better retirement provisions, costing the airline 60 million euros (77.3 million dollars).
