In what has ultimately become a good day in Frankfurt, Lufthansa has announced that it has agreed to begin arbitration proceedings with UFO (the cabin crew’s union) in an effort to come to an amicable agreement that will finally put the threat of strikes behind us.

In a statement by UFO’s leader Nicoley Baubiles, he stated that “We have signed a preliminary agreement over a mediation on the wage components. Starting tomorrow there will no longer be any strikes until we agree to or reject an arbiter’s ruling”.

Earlier on Friday Lufthansa had announced that it will no longer pursue the use of outsourced cabin crew from it’s Berlin hub and in a gesture of good faith offered to hire existing outsourced cabin crew as permanent Lufthansa associates. One of the union’s points of contention that led to the strike was the Union membership’s disapproval of Lufthansa’s use of outsourced cabin crew. With that issue now resolved, both sides have motivation to get a long term deal done as soon as possible.

So for any of you with upcoming travel on Lufthansa, I think you can at least for the moment take a collective breath of relief and look forward to great flights on Lufthansa. I certainly am relieved knowing that my upcoming trips to Europe should go off as planned….