Strikes expected to disrupt flights to/from Germany and France
Delays and cancellations are expected at a half-dozen German airports on Wednesday, April 27, due to a strike called by the German labor union Verdi, which represents many public service workers.
In advance of a new round of collective bargaining for pay raises for its members, Verdi has issued a statement calling for workers in flights operations, ground services and, in some cases, airport fire brigades to strike for much of the day at Munich, Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and several other airports.
In advance of the strike Lufthansa, airberlin, United Airlines and many other airlines with flights to, from or connecting through German airports are warning passengers to expect flights disruptions during the day.
Airlines are also offering refunds for cancellations and waivers of the change fees and fare differences for passengers who wish to reschedule their flights.
On its website, Munich Airport is warning passengers that operations will be disrupted “throughout the whole day.”
In a statement released late Monday, Lufthansa — the airline that will be most affected by the strike — said it was canceling all intercontinental service to and from Munich on Wednesday, and, so far, more than 850 flights from its schedule overall.
“On German domestic and European routes, too, it will probably be possible to handle only a small number of flights. As a result, Lufthansa will only be able to offer around 90 flights from and to Munich on Wednesday,” the airline said in its statement.
Lufthansa plans to operate most of its international flights from and to Frankfurt, but said most German domestic services and numerous flights within Europe would be canceled during the strike’s scheduled hours on Wednesday.
“Düsseldorf, Cologne/Bonn, Dortmund and Hanover airports will also suffer flight cancellations as a result of the Verdi strike,” the airline said.
“The Wednesday strike called by the Verdi union confirms once again the urgent need for certain ‘rules of play’ on industrial action in the aviation field,” says Bettina Volkens, Chief Officer Corporate Human Resources & Legal Affairs of Deutsche Lufthansa AG, in the release. “We want to see binding mediation or conciliation procedures here before such strike action can be taken.”
A travel advisory on the Frankfurt Airport website explains that major disruptions and cancellations are expected and that passengers will not be able to get to flights leaving from an A Gate because security checkpoints for Gates A in Terminal 1 will be closed during the strike.
The Frankfurt Airport travel alert also warns passengers that longer wait times are expected at all other security checkpoints during the entire day, that traffic on roads leading to the airport may be affected by strikers’ demonstrations, and asks that passengers with canceled flights and no immediate rebooking options avoid going to the airport.
Meanwhile, late Monday London’s Luton Airport, Air Berlin and others were alerting travelers to possible disruptions of flights scheduled to/from France on April 27 and/or 28 due to (another) expected strike by French air traffic controllers.
Harriet Baskas is a Seattle-based airports and aviation writer and Paste BN Travel's "At the Airport" columnist. She occasionally contributes to Ben Mutzabaugh's Today in the Sky blog. Follow her at twitter.com/hbaskas.