Because of the warning strike on Wednesday, Lufthansa is canceling almost all flights at its German hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. In Frankfurt, this affects 92,000 passengers – they should not come to the airport without rebooking.
There are massive cancellations in Lufthansa’s flight schedule this Wednesday due to the ground staff’s warning strike. As Lufthansa announced on Tuesday, a total of 678 flights will be canceled in Frankfurt alone. The first connections from long-distance destinations that would have landed in Frankfurt or Munich on Wednesday morning had already failed on Tuesday.
According to Lufthansa, around 92,000 travelers in Frankfurt will be affected by the one-day strike on Wednesday. Those affected would be informed immediately and “if possible” rebooked on other flights, the airline announced on Tuesday. However, the available capacities are very limited.
Not to the airport without a rebooking offer
Even after the actual day of the strike, Lufthansa expects further effects. “With a view to the coming weekend, the start of the holidays in Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg, Lufthansa is working flat out to normalize flight operations as quickly as possible.” Nevertheless, there could still be individual flight cancellations and delays on Thursday and Friday, the airline said.
Lufthansa strongly advised passengers who did not receive a rebooking offer not to come to the airport on Wednesday. Because of the strike, “only a few or no” service counters were open there. Transfer passengers without a connecting flight should not fly to the German hubs. There is a risk that guests will not be able to travel there for several hours or days.
Swiss, Austrian and Air Dolomiti are also affected
In addition to the canceled flights with an LH flight number, other connections from group companies such as Swiss, Austrian or Air Dolomiti may be added, as they are handled at the hubs by Lufthansa ground staff. The non-strike direct flight subsidiary Eurowings assumed that flight operations would be largely normal throughout the network on Tuesday.
According to information from Tuesday, the holiday airline Condor does not have to cancel any flights. Passengers who are actually supposed to be arriving on Lufthansa flights are asked to switch to the train. One does not work with Lufthansa companies on the ground, said a Condor spokeswoman on Tuesday.
According to the changed EU legislation, passengers are likely to be entitled to reimbursements and compensation payments, since Lufthansa can no longer invoke extraordinary circumstances in the event of a strike by its own people.
Verdi calls ground staff to strike
The Verdi union had around 20,000 Lufthansa ground staff on Wednesday called for a one-day warning strike. It is scheduled to start at 3:45 a.m. in the morning and end at 6 a.m. on Thursday. Ground staff include technicians and logisticians, without whose services the aircraft cannot take off. Check-in is also affected.
Verdi expects a high participation
The background to the call for a strike is the ongoing wage negotiations. In the second round of negotiations, Lufthansa submitted an offer in mid-July that Verdi had criticized as “insufficient”. They therefore want to increase the pressure on employers to submit “a significantly improved, finalizable offer” in the next round of negotiations at the beginning of August.
Verdi strike leader Marvin Raschinsky said on Tuesday that he expected a very high turnout. This became apparent when the employer tried to check the operational readiness in the individual departments. He also expects effects on airlines outside of Lufthansa, since the struck units also provide services for others.
Lufthansa HR Director Michael Niggemann criticized the call for a strike and the timing. “The early escalation after just two days of negotiations in what has so far been a constructive bargaining round is causing enormous damage,” he said on Tuesday. This applies above all to passengers in the main travel season. “And it places an additional heavy burden on our employees in what is already a difficult phase in air traffic.”
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