About 134,000 passengers needed to change their journey plans or cancel them altogether as over 1,000 Lufthansa flights had been cancelled at this time (July 27) due to a one-day strike by the airline’s German floor workers. The strike affected tens of 1000’s of passengers within the newest journey turmoil to hit Europe.
At the least 47 connections had already been cancelled on Tuesday (July 26), German information company dpa reported. Lufthansa’s principal hubs in Frankfurt and Munich had been most affected, however flights had been additionally cancelled in Duesseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin, Bremen, Hannover, Stuttgart, and Cologne.
The airline suggested affected passengers to not come to the airports as a result of a lot of the counters there wouldn’t be staffed anyway. The ver.Di service employees’ union introduced the strike on Monday because it seeks to lift strain on Lufthansa in negotiations on pay for about 20,000 staff of logistical, technical, and cargo subsidiaries of the airline.
The walkout comes at a time when airports in Germany and throughout Europe already are seeing disruption and lengthy strains for safety checks due to workers shortages and hovering journey demand.
As inflation soars, strikes for larger pay by airport crews in France and Scandinavian Airways pilots in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark have deepened the chaos for travellers who’ve confronted last-minute cancellations, prolonged delays, misplaced baggage, or lengthy waits for luggage in airports throughout Europe.
Journey is booming this summer season after two years of COVID-19 restrictions, swamping airways and airports that do not have sufficient employees after pandemic-era layoffs. Airports like London’s Heathrow and Amsterdam’s Schiphol have restricted every day flights or passenger numbers.
The Lufthansa strike began early on Wednesday at 3.45 am (native time) and is about to finish early on Thursday.
Such warning strikes are a typical tactic in German labour negotiations and sometimes final from a number of hours to a day or two. Ver.Di is asking for a 9.5 % pay improve this 12 months and says a suggestion by Lufthansa earlier this month, which might contain a deal for an 18-month interval, falls far wanting its calls for.
Lufthansa’s chief personnel officer, Michael Niggemann, argued that “this so-called warning strike in the midst of the height summer season journey season is solely not proportionate.”
(With inputs from PTI)