Lufthansa to resume cabin crew wage talks on Monday

FRANKFURT Feb 4 (Reuters) - Deutsche Lufthansa (LHAG.DE) will start another round of wage talks with trade union UFO on Monday, a statement on the union's website showed on Wednesday, as the airline seeks to avoid further crippling protests.

Airlines and their pilots, grounds crews and cabin crews are at loggerheads around the world, hitting carriers including Air France-KLM (AIRF.PA), Air Canada (ACa.TO) and Finnair Oyj (FIA1S.HE) as airlines try to safeguard already slim margins.

Lufthansa cabin crews represented by UFO have staged protests twice in the past two weeks, forcing the German flagship carrier to cancel dozens of flights and cope with delays.

"It remains to be seen whether a sustainable solution can be found," the union said in the statement on Wednesday. Otherwise, further warning strikes were possible anytime, it said.

Last month, a third round of wage talks for 16,000 flight attendants failed. The union is calling for a wage and benefits rise of 15 percent.

Lufthansa officials say it has increased its offer to a rise of up to 10 percent, from an earlier 9.1 percent. The package includes better work conditions and profit sharing.

Lufthansa on Tuesday was the second European airline in as many days to raise its full-year 2008 outlook, saying its fourth quarter had yielded stronger results than expected aided by lower fuel costs. [ID:nL3735308]

Four days earlier, the carrier had said it would shorten the working hours of 2,600 workers in its cargo division to offset weak demand for air freight services.

Last July, Lufthansa's passenger numbers were hurt by strikes by ground staff and cabin crew as well as walkouts by regional pilots forced the carrier to cut flights.

The wage agreement that ended that walkout adds about 100 million euros ($130 million) to costs every year, the company has said. (Reporting by Maria Sheahan; editing by Patrick Graham)