BERLIN — German ******* Lufthansa is cancelling 1,000 flights on Wednesday because of a pilot ******.

Some 140,000 travellers will be affected by the grounding, the ******* said Tuesday.

“Lufthansa deeply regrets the resulting inconvenience to its customers,” it said.

The pilots union, Vereinigung Cockpit, began its ****** on long-haul flights Tuesday, forcing the cancellation of 90 flights. On Wednesday it is extending the ****** to include medium- and short-haul flights.

The ******* said services of its subsidiaries Germanwings, SWISS, Austrian Airlines and Brussels Airlines are not affected.

Lufthansa’s 5,400 pilots want the ******* to keep paying a transition payment for those wanting to retire early, and are opposed to a restructuring of the *******.

Lufthansa says passengers should check its website for details of forthcoming flight cancellations.