FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF (Reuters) - Lufthansa (DE:LHAG) has rejected demands by pilots to discuss in mediation the German airline's plans to expand its low-cost operations, the airline said on Friday.
Plans to set up a low-cost unit dubbed "Wings" cannot be negotiated in mediation, a spokesman for the carrier said, confirming an earlier report by German public broadcaster hr-iNFO.
Lufthansa had offered pilots' union Vereinigung Cockpit (VC) to enter mediation to resolve a long-running dispute over early retirement benefits.
But VC has called for mediation to cover all areas of its dispute with management, including both the early retirement row and the company's plans to expand its low-cost operations.
Hr-iNFO had earlier on Friday cited an internal document as saying Lufthansa does not want to agree to that proposal because it should be left up to the company to decide on its strategy for low-cost operations.
(Reporting by Harro ten Wolde and Anneli Palmen; Editing by Christoph Steitz)