Frankfurt (Reuters) - A strike by pilots at Lufthansa subsidiary Discover Airlines is possible at any time following a ballot by the Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) union.

With a high turnout, a good 95 percent of members voted in favor of industrial action, as VC announced at the end of the vote on Tuesday. The issue at stake is the first-ever conclusion of collective agreements for the fledgling vacation airline. The high level of approval is a clear signal to the employer to submit a negotiable offer without preconditions in order to resume negotiations.

Discover thus has the chance to avoid a longer strike. Before Christmas, there had already been a five-hour warning strike by cockpit staff. The airline was able to limit the consequences for passengers with a good dozen flight cancellations. A spokeswoman for the company explained that the airline has taken note of the vote and regrets the termination of talks by VC and its decision to escalate. "Discover Airlines' offer to continue the talks for a first tariff still stands. Solutions can only be found at the negotiating table," she added.

Discover offers connections to tourist destinations from Frankfurt and Munich with a fleet of 24 aircraft. The airline employs around 400 men and women in the cockpit with a total of 2,000 employees. It was founded in summer 2021 under the name Eurowings Discover with a focus on long-haul flights. The airline is not to be confused with Lufthansa's European leisure airline Eurowings. It therefore dropped the name Eurowings in the fall.

VC declared the negotiations, which were already at an advanced stage, to have failed in January because the airline had made the conclusion of a "social partnership charter" a condition for signing the collective agreements. VC rejected the charter because it would restrict its right to strike through rules on conflict resolution. The trade union committees now want to discuss how to proceed, explained VC.

(Report by Ilona Wissenbach. Edited by Olaf Brenner. Edited by Olaf Brenner. If you have any queries, please contact the editorial team at frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com)