Because of the Verdi warning strike on Wednesday, Lufthansa is canceling almost the entire flight program at its German hubs in Frankfurt and Munich. The company announced this on Tuesday.
Lufthansa is canceling a total of 678 flights at Frankfurt Airport, 32 of them on Tuesday. At the hub in Munich there were a total of 345 flights on both days. A total of around 134,000 passengers are said to be affected. Individual flight cancellations and delays are still possible on Thursday and Friday.
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In addition to the hubs in Frankfurt and Munich, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Berlin, Bremen, Hanover, Stuttgart and Cologne are also affected. The Lufthansa Group usually maintains smaller units there, which also offer their services to other airlines. In Bavaria, Friday is the last day of school before the summer holidays.
“The early escalation after just two days of negotiations in what has so far been a constructive round of collective bargaining is causing enormous damage,” said Lufthansa HR Director Michael Niggemann. “This primarily affects our passengers during the peak travel season. And it places an additional heavy burden on our employees in what is already a difficult phase in air traffic.”
The airline had previously announced “major restrictions”. The flight cancellations will be published in the system on Tuesday and the affected passengers will be offered alternatives if possible, according to customer information.
Passengers without transfers should not come to the airports because “little if any” service counters will be open there, the company warned.
The Verdi union had called on around 20,000 ground workers to take part in widespread work stoppages in order to put pressure on the ongoing salary negotiations. The union had rejected an initial offer from Lufthansa, but agreed to continue negotiations for August 3rd and 4th.
Ground crew warning strikes are scheduled to begin at 3:45 a.m. on Wednesday, July 27 and last until 6:00 a.m. on Thursday, July 28.