Lufthansa attendants accept pay settelement

BERLIN (AP) -- A union representing flight attendants at Lufthansa says its members have voted to accept a pay deal with the airline — averting the possibility of strikes during the holiday season.

The UFO union said Tuesday that 85 percent of members who participated in a ballot on last month's arbitration settlement voted to accept it.

The settlement gives attendants a pay raise that fell short of their demands but included a no-layoff guarantee until the end of 2014, among other concessions by the two sides.

Lufthansa is struggling to compete against European budget carriers and government-owned airlines from the Persian Gulf. Germany's biggest airline and the union took their dispute to arbitration in September after attendants staged a series of short-term work stoppages that caused the cancellation of hundreds of flights.