Germany: Lufthansa ground staff on strike on Wednesday, flight cancellations and delays expected

One of Lufthansa’s key unions today called the company’s ground staff on strike on Wednesday as part of a pay dispute, announcing “delays and cancellations” at an already tense time for the European airline industry.

The Verdi union has called a strike from 03.45 (04.45 Greek time) on Wednesday to 06.00 (07.00 Greek time) on Thursday morning to “increase pressure” on management while demanding a 9.5% wage increase, according to with announcement.

Europe’s biggest airline group has not yet given details of the impact on passengers, at a time when travelers are already facing long waits at airports and back-to-back flight cancellations due to staff shortages.

Lufthansa has already canceled around 6,000 flights this summer while Frankfurt airport is considering easing the schedule to “further stabilize flight operations”.

Wednesday’s strike will affect ground staff, mainly maintenance services, but also aircraft towing vehicle operators, who are essential to the smooth running of the airport.

“There will be many cancellations and delays,” Verdi announced.

After the lifting of health restrictions at the start of the year, airlines and airports are struggling to meet strong demand growth after two years of low demand in which many jobs were lost. More than 7,000 workers are currently missing from the German aviation industry, according to a study by the economic institute IW published at the end of June.

Source: AMPE

Source: Capital

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