As of: February 8, 2024 1:18 p.m
The warning strike by Lufthansa ground staff ended on Thursday morning. However, flights can still be canceled. Lufthansa air traffic is not expected to run again as planned until Friday.
The ver.di union had called on ground staff at several airports to go on an all-day warning strike on Wednesday – there were failures in Hamburg, but also in Hanover and Bremen. After the complete cancellation of all 23 planned Lufthansa flights on Wednesday, five Lufthansa departures and four arrivals in Hamburg were canceled on Thursday morning. According to the airline, passengers should Departure schedule on the airport website check. Overall, the effects of the strike at Hamburg Airport are manageable, as Lufthansa only has feeder flights to and from Frankfurt and Munich in the Hanseatic city.
Failures also in Hanover and Bremen
All Lufthansa flights were also canceled in Hanover on Wednesday and there were also cancellations in Bremen. The Frankfurt, Munich, Berlin and Düsseldorf locations were also affected by the warning strike. Lufthansa expected that up to 90 percent of its flights planned for Wednesday would be canceled. The warning strike began on Wednesday at 4 a.m. and officially lasted until Thursday at 7:10 a.m.
Lufthansa: Do not come to the airport if flights are canceled
Lufthansa had warned against coming to the airport if flights were canceled. “Due to the strike, the rebooking counters are unfortunately not staffed,” it said on the website. The company expected more than 100,000 affected passengers nationwide who would have to change their plans. According to the airline, free rebooking options are available on the website lufthansa.com, the customer app and the service center. Tickets for domestic flights could be converted into vouchers for train journeys.
Eurowings connections not affected
The 30 flights operated by Lufthansa subsidiary Eurowings on Wednesday were not affected by the warning strike. All Eurowings flights in Hamburg should also take place as planned on Thursday. The flights of the Lufthansa subsidiaries Austrian and Swiss should also not be affected by the strike.
It involves 25,000 employees nationwide
The background to the warning strike is the ongoing group-wide collective bargaining for the approximately 25,000 ground employees at Deutsche Lufthansa, Lufthansa Technik and Lufthansa Cargo, among others. Ver.di wants to increase the pressure on employers with the warning strike. An offer from the employers in the second round of negotiations on January 23rd was rejected – it concerns, for example, increase steps that were perceived as too low and the 36-month term.
Ver.di demands 12.5 percent more salary
In the ongoing collective bargaining dispute, ver.di is demanding 12.5 percent more salary, but at least 500 euros per month for a term of twelve months. There will also be a group-wide uniform inflation compensation bonus of 3,000 euros. The next round of negotiations is planned for February 12th in Frankfurt. Ver.di is threatening longer strikes if the Lufthansa board does not significantly improve its tariff offer for ground staff.
First Last week there were warning strikes that also affected Hamburg Airport. After a strike by aviation security forces and the cancellation of all departures on Thursday, the ver.di union called on ground transport service providers to stop working on Friday.
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