Monitoring Desk
FRANKFURT: Tens of thousands of travellers have faced flight delays and cancellations Friday (Feb 17) as employees at eight airports in Germany went on strike to demand pay.
According to the AFP, the full-day walkout, called the Verdi trade union, prompted Germany’s biggest carrier Lufthansa to cancel more than 1,300 flights at its two busiest hubs, Munich and Frankfurt.
Verdi said that “The strike has expected to have a strong impact, especially on domestic air traffic, ranging from delays to cancellations and even the partial shutdown of air traffic,”.
German airport association ADV called strike action “completely unacceptable”, saying it would affect around 295,000 passengers and more than 2,300 flights together.
ADV chief Ralph Beisel said that “Solutions must be found at the negotiating table and has not at the expense of passengers,”.
The other affected German airports are Bremen, Hamburg, Leipzig, Dortmund, Hamburg, and Stuttgart.
Verdi has currently leading negotiations for public sector employees, airport ground crew, and aviation security staff, demanding better pay at a time when workers are seeing their incomes eroded by the high cost of living.
Verdi has defended the walkout, saying the combined day of action was less inconvenient for passengers than many strikes on different days.
The next round of negotiations with employers is scheduled for Feb 22 and 23.
Frankfurt and Hamburg’s airports urged passengers not to come to the airport at all. Those travelling within Germany have advised switching to train journeys.
Passenger flights
The Munich airport scrapped all its regular passenger flights.
Verdi said that the nationwide strike would not impact flights delivering aid to earthquake-hit Syria and Türkiye and planes carrying leaders attending the Munich Security Conference.
The strike caps a chaotic week for air travel in the country.
Lufthansa was forced to cancel and delay flights on Wednesday because of a significant IT outage caused by construction work in Frankfurt.
The next day, several German airports saw their websites disrupted by a suspected cyber attack.
German news outlet Der Spiegel said the Russian hackers had claimed responsibility for the attack.
