German national carrier Lufthansa said it was forced to cancel nearly all flights at its domestic hubs in Frankfurt and Munich on Wednesday because of a planned ground crew strike, adding to a summer of travel chaos across Europe.
The one-day strike called by Germany’s powerful Verdi union will have “massive repercussions,” Lufthansa said in a statement on Tuesday.
More than 1,000 flights will be canceled, some of them as early as Tuesday, affecting around 134,000 passengers.
“Lufthansa will have to cancel almost the entire flight program at its Frankfurt and Munich hubs for Wednesday,” the group said, adding that an after-effect on some flights planned for Thursday and Friday cannot be ruled out.
The strike, which is expected to last from 0145 GMT on Wednesday to 0400 GMT on Thursday, comes as ground workers seek a higher pay rise than what has been offered by Lufthansa so far.
The airline said it canceled 45 long-haul flights scheduled to depart on Tuesday and arrive in Germany on Wednesday, leaving nearly 7,500 passengers stranded in Asia, South America and the United States.
The disruption promises to make a turbulent summer even more painful for air travel across Europe.
The easing of coronavirus rules has boosted demand, but chronic staff shortages have left passengers facing flight disruptions, long queues and lost luggage.
The Verdi union, which represents around 20,000 Lufthansa ground workers, is demanding a salary increase of 9.5 percent or at least 350 euros a month. She also wants a minimum hourly wage of 13 euros.
The union said management’s offer so far “doesn’t come close to matching inflation,” which stood at 7.6 percent in Germany last month.
Lufthansa counters that it has offered “very substantial salary increases” of more than 10 percent for workers in the lowest wage brackets and 6 percent for higher-paid employees.
“The premature escalation of a previously constructive round of collective bargaining is causing enormous damage,” said Lufthansa Labor Director Michael Niggemann.
The Federal Economic Institute IW recently calculated that there is currently a shortage of more than 7,000 employees in the German aviation industry.
Many airport workers found jobs in other sectors as travel demand slumped during the pandemic, and they have not returned after tourism rebounded, the economists noted.
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