More Air Chaos

Cockpit said the strike, which began at midnight and was scheduled to end at noon Friday, was aimed at breaking a months-long deadlock in talks with the airline.

Around 360 scheduled domestic flights will be affected by the industrial action.

The union added that 99 percent of its members had voted for the strike after pay talks with management of both Cityline and Eurowings, another Lufthansa subsidiary, broke down.

Pilots at the two companies earn on average 25 percent less than their Lufthansa colleagues and the union did not consider a management offer of 6 percent over a contract lasting up to two years high enough for credible negotiations.

Cockpit has rejected the offer as not worth negotiating but has not specified its demands.

The union said the airports at Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Dusseldorf, Berlin and Leipzig would be hit.

Lufthansa said it would transfer passengers to trains and other flights.

Cityline operates about 400 flights daily to domestic and European destinations.

New blow to disrupted services

The union called strikes lasting 24 and 36 hours, respectively, at Cityline and Eurowings in July.

Only last Friday Lufthansa reached a pay deal with its ground and cabin staff through the services union Verdi after a strike lasting several days forced the cancellation of more than 400 flights during the summer peak season.