The already troubled European airline industry is facing yet more disruptions after pilots working for German carrier Lufthansa voted in favour of their largest strike in almost a decade in reaction to ongoing job security.

Of the airline’s pilots, a staggering 93 percent said yes to the strike, which is scheduled to begin on Monday. All of the pilots will be asked to participate in the strike which will have massive consequences given Lufthansa is one of the ‘big three’ airlines in Europe along with British Airways and France-KLM.

Management has accepted full responsibility for the action, which dates back to acrimonious talks last December when the Cockpit union asked for a pay rise of 6.4 percent. Despite offering a range of alternative options the union has to date rejected all of the management’s proposals. The group said it will be working diligently to minimise disruptions to passenger services and plans to offer free modifications to existing bookings or train ticket replacements.

The strike comes at the worst possible time for the European airline industry which is still reeling from the effects of the recession, with rising fuel costs and passenger poaching from budget carriers seriously impacting on operations for bigger organizations.

The big three have been in damage control, with Air France and BA both slashing jobs and production costs, even signing new agreements with budget carrying competitors. BA has cut some 5,000 jobs in recent months while Air France-KLM has cut 2,700 in attempt to bring down their multi-billion dollar overheads.