Many flight cancellations: New warning strikes at German airports

Status: 03/15/2022 09:02 a.m

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Travelers at German airports still have to be prepared for flight cancellations and delays. The union Ver.di has extended the warning strikes. Frankfurt and Hamburg are now also affected.

The warning strikes at German airports continue today. Air travelers at many German airports are faced with cancellations of their flights or long queues at controls.

Three rounds of negotiations without a result

The warning strikes are part of the collective bargaining conflict between the Ver.di union and the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS). The union is negotiating with the employers’ association about a new collective agreement for around 25,000 security forces nationwide, three rounds of negotiations have so far remained unsuccessful.

The two largest German airports in Frankfurt and Munich are also affected by the one-day strikes. Munich has been on strike since 2 p.m. yesterday. There are also walkouts today in Hamburg, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden. The airports in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Cologne/Bonn, Hanover, Leipzig/Halle and Bremen were affected yesterday. As a result of the strikes, delays are still expected there today.

In Frankfurt emergency service in transit

At Frankfurt Airport, freight and passenger inspection staff stopped work from 2 a.m., as a Ver.di spokesman said in the morning. Transfer passengers can continue their journey if their flights take place, according to the information, an emergency service has been set up. But delays are also expected in the transit processes. Lufthansa had already canceled 48 departures from Frankfurt yesterday.

In Hamburg, the warning strikes are still in the middle of spring break. The Hanseatic city’s airport company, like other airport operators, recommended that travelers find out about the status of their flight before arriving at the airport. According to a spokeswoman, Stuttgart Airport is also preparing for significant impairments. There could be changes to the plan, and flights could also be postponed. According to the management, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport will try to at least maintain emergency operations. However, delays are to be expected.

Collective bargaining parties are still far apart

There had already been warning strikes at individual airports at the end of February. At the beginning of March, the third round also had no result. Ver.di describes the employer’s offer as “insufficient”. The BDLS had recently spoken of approximations, but the ideas were still far apart.

Ver.di wants to sign a contract for twelve months and increase hourly wages by at least one euro. The salaries of the baggage and personnel inspectors should reach the level of employees in passenger control, employees in aircraft security and boarding card control should be paid uniformly nationwide.