By Peter Maushagen and Victoria Bryan
FRANKFURT/BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Lufthansa hit back at striking pilots on Tuesday, taking the long-running dispute to the courts and saying it would no longer hire new pilots under generous German labour contracts.
Pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) staged a strike on long-haul routes on Tuesday and has called another walkout for Wednesday, on short-haul flights - and it warned there could be more pain to come.
"We cannot rule out further strikes this week," union spokesman Markus Wahl said at Frankfurt airport on Tuesday. "Strikes are possible in the following weeks as well."
The pilots' 13th strike inside 18 months forced the main Lufthansa brand to cancel 84 of about 170 long-haul flights planned for Tuesday and around 1,000 flights - two-thirds of its schedule - on Wednesday, including another 52 long-haul flights.
It drew a defiant response from Germany's largest airline, which asked a court to rule on whether the current walkout is justified by filing for a temporary injunction.
The carrier also said it would not take on any new pilots under current German collective labour agreements, meaning that its core Lufthansa, Germanwings and cargo divisions will shrink as staff leave and are not replaced.
The airline, which is trying to cut costs to better compete with budget rivals, is also suing the union over a strike at Lufthansa Cargo in April 2014, questioning the legality of the walkout because there was a valid pay deal in place at the time.
"We are determined ... The pilots are going about this the wrong way," a Lufthansa spokeswoman said earlier.
Relations between management and VC soured last week after the breakdown of talks aimed at resolving a dispute that initially centred on retirement benefits but has since escalated to encompass Lufthansa's plans to expand low-cost operations under its Eurowings brand.
Lufthansa added on Tuesday that it would in future discuss only pay and contract issues with the union, effectively shutting VC out of strategy issues.
The strikes have cost Lufthansa about 100 million euros ($112 million) so far this year.
Pilots have offered concessions, including a proposed increase in the average retirement age to 60 and a commitment to look at ways to reduce costs to a level comparable with easyJet. But they have also demanded that the company stops moving jobs out of Germany as it seeks to expand low-cost operations.
Fellow union UFO, which represents cabin crew, also waded into the debate last week, saying the row had already cost jobs and that strikes would not bring a resolution.
($1 = 0.8913 euros)
(Editing by David Goodman and Pravin Char)
