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Frankfurt/Paris - German pilots union Cockpit has called off a strike scheduled for Tuesday due to advances in negotiations with Lufthansa, the union said late Monday.
The surprising development came on the eve of a plan by pilots to walk off the job for the fourth time in three weeks as part of a campaign to head off a new early-retirement scheme.
The airline sent the pilots a new set of conditions for the plan, prompting the pilots' bargaining committee to call off Tuesday's strike and offer dates for new rounds of negotiations.
Cockpit spokesperson Joerg Handwerg told dpa that Lufthansa had presented a "modified offer" that was "worth discussing". He said that it was not clear whether the concession would be enough to resolve the labour dispute.
Pilots at the airline's main Frankfurt hub were to strike for eight hours starting at 07:00 GMT on Tuesday. The airline now expects its flight schedule will be mostly normal.
Last week, Lufthansa was forced to cancel about 140 flights at Munich Airport because of a strike. That followed industrial action last month by pilots at Frankfurt Airport and a strike by pilots working for Lufthansa's budget offshoot, Germanwings.
Air France cancels flights
Pilots with Air France meanwhile began a week-long strike, forcing the airline to cancel nearly half of its flights Monday.
Some 60% of Air France pilots walked off the job over management's proposal to introduce lower wage packages for crews working at Air France's low-cost subsidiary, Transavia.
The strike, which is to run through September 22, is shaping up as the most disruptive at Air France since 1998.
At Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris, the airline's counters were swamped by stranded passengers looking to be rebooked on other flights.
Air France, which is compensating passengers for cancelled flights, estimated the strike would set the company back between €10m and €15m a day.
Both Air France and Lufthansa are trying to cut costs to compete with Ryanair, Vueling and other budget carriers.
Lufthansa wants to scrap a retirement plan under which its 5 400 pilots can retire at 55 and continue to receive part of their wages.
Air France wants to hire crews on smaller pay to build up its low-cost business at Transavia. Air France pilots are demanding a single contract for all the group's pilots.
The strike comes as the Air France-KLM group is starting to turn a corner after years of heavy losses, which had prompted thousands of job cuts.
Last year, the group turned an operating profit for the first time in three years. The group aims to achieve net profits by the end of 2015.
