Chaos during the holiday season: foreign helpers should step in at airports

Long queues, stacks of luggage, canceled flights – for weeks there have been such scenes at German airports due to a lack of staff. Now politics intervenes: Thousands of helpers from abroad are to come.

In order to avoid further chaos at German airports during the holiday season, foreign helpers are to step in. “The federal government is planning to allow urgently needed personnel to enter Germany for temporary work,” announced Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) in the “Bild am Sonntag”. According to information from government circles, a four-digit number of specialists should help out in Germany for a few months at best from July. According to industry information, around 2,000 employees are under discussion, including from Turkey.

Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP) spoke in the newspaper of an action coordinated with Heil and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser (SPD). Faeser added: “We will make it possible for helpers from abroad to be used, for example, for baggage handling.” The following applies: There are no compromises when it comes to safety.

Airports hope for quick implementation

The airports reacted enthusiastically and are now urging the authorities to check the reliability of the staff more quickly. According to the working group of German commercial airports, the aim is rapid implementation.

Airlines and airports are struggling with staff shortages. Flights are canceled and there are long queues at airports. Many jobs were cut during the corona pandemic, and there are currently many corona diseases. According to the Arbeitsgemeinschaft, there are staff gaps in many areas, from check-in to passenger control to aircraft handling.

According to a study by the German Economic Institute, there is currently a shortage of around 7,200 skilled workers at German airports. The industry has therefore asked the government for help.

Heil: No social dumping or exploitation

Heil emphasized that any form of social dumping and exploitation should be excluded in the planned regulation. “Employers must pay collective wages and provide decent accommodation for a limited time.” There isn’t much time left for that. The school holidays have already begun in North Rhine-Westphalia – with long queues at Düsseldorf Airport, for example.

Wissing assigned the responsibility for chaotic conditions at airports to the companies. “The federal government is not responsible for the personnel policy of the airport companies and airlines,” he said. The Federal Ministry of Transport is responsible for air traffic control and the coordination of flight operations. “And everything runs smoothly there.”

Lemke demands fair dealings with customers

Consumer Protection Minister Steffi Lemke (Greens) had described the current situation at German airports as a “severe nuisance”. She urged the airlines to treat their customers fairly. “I expect the airlines to meet their legal obligations and meet the legitimate claims of passengers quickly and unbureaucratically,” Lemke told the “Bild am Sonntag”. The airlines are also obliged to inform travelers about their rights. The minister emphasized that passengers have a right to compensation in the event of short-term cancellations and delays.

Lufthansa expects normalization in 2023

Shortly before the start of the main holiday season, numerous airlines had canceled flights. Lufthansa canceled a total of almost 3,000 flights at its Frankfurt and Munich hubs. The low-cost subsidiary Eurowings also canceled hundreds of flights in July. At Berlin Airport alone, market leader Easyjet cut its program for the summer months by around 1,000 flights.

Lufthansa does not expect flight operations to return to normal until next year. “Unfortunately, we will hardly be able to realistically achieve a short-term improvement now in the summer,” Lufthansa board member Detlef Kayser told the “Welt”. Currently only helping to reduce the number of flights. This is not only a German problem, but applies to the whole world. “We expect the situation to return to normal overall in 2023.”