Lufthansa faces a strike by pilots following a walkout by ground staff last week which saw flights cancelled for 130,000 passengers.
Flight crew voted on Sunday by a margin of 97.6% in favour of industrial action, threatening further disruption during the busy summer travel season.
The vote does not necessarily mean a strike will be held, but it was a signal to the airline that constructive steps needed to be taken, pilot’s union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) board member Marcel Groels said.
“We are showing we are ready to talk,” he told Reuters.
A Lufthansa spokesperson said they respected the results of the vote and hoped for a constructive solution at the negotiating table.
The VC unison is demanding a 5.5% pay rise this year for its pilots and automatic inflation compensation thereafter.
More than 1,000 flights from Frankfurt and Munich were grounded last Tuesday and Wednesday due to industrial action by the German Ver.di union. The effects of the strike led to further cancellations on Thursday and Friday.
Referring to the ground staff dispute which affected almost all flights from the two hubs , the airline’s chief human resources officer Michael Niggemann said: “The early escalation of a previously constructive collective bargaining round is causing enormous damage.
“It affects our passengers in particular, who are impacted during the peak travel season. And it is putting an additional heavy strain on our employees in an already difficult phase for air traffic.”
The airline has offered pay rises of more than 10% over the next 12 months.