Lufthansa pilots want clarity on new offer before Any Talks

German pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit said Thursday it wanted more information from Lufthansa before it could decide whether to revive failed pay talks, meaning more strikes could be on the cards at any time. Lufthansa pilots have been out on strike for six days in total since the latest round of protests started on Wednesday last week, grounding 4,460 flights and affecting more than 525,000 customers at one of Europe's largest airlines. To halt the strikes, Lufthansa said this Wednesday it had dropped demands for pilots to work longer hours in exchange for a wage increase. It is offering to raise pilots' pay by 4.4% in two instalments in 2016 and 2017 and make a one-off payment worth 1.8 months' pay. But the union said it had not received a formal notification from Lufthansa about the one-off payment, nor was it clear whether the demands for concessions in exchange for higher pay were really off the table. "VC expects a firm and clear offer in order to be able to determine whether to resume talks, with a mediator or not," it said Thursday. A spokesman for Lufthansa said the carrier would discuss the points raised with the union directly, promising to do so "promptly". VC has called for an average annual pay rise of 3.7% for 5,400 pilots over a five-year period backdated to 2012. Lufthansa returned to a normal schedule on Thursday, though 40 flights were cancelled as the airline recovered from a strike in the previous two days.<br/>