Air travelers with a departure or arrival in Germany should have strong nerves on Thursday. The Verdi union began its air safety warning strikes on Wednesday evening. The opening was in Cologne/Bonn, where, according to Verdi, the night shift of passenger control did not show up for work. In-charge union secretary Osai Tarim said that there is 100 percent participation. “It was a successful start to the strike.”
About 80 percent of scheduled flights to Cologne/Bonn on Thursday were canceled, the airport website showed Thursday morning. Verdi Man Darim expects this share to increase over time. The consequences are even worse at Berlin, Hamburg and Stuttgart airports, where all departures have been cancelled. However, in Düsseldorf, it is one-third, two-thirds of the flight operations to be carried out.
Who is on strike?
Crews are called in at checkpoints at eleven major airports outside Bavaria. If they stop working completely, no passengers from outside the security zone will enter the aircraft.
Passengers should inform themselves
At Frankfurt, AUA parent company Lufthansa wants to maintain most of its program, including long-haul flights. Flights will also be provided to the transferees. In all cases, passengers are encouraged to check the status of their flights to avoid being stranded at the airport.
Austria was also affected
Around 1,100 flights will be canceled or delayed, according to airport association ATV. About 200,000 passengers were affected. Relations between Germany and Austria were also affected. Regular flight operations will not resume until Friday. The next Verdi warning strike is already planned – across the country on local public transport.
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Trade unionist Tarim said they wanted to send a clear signal. “We will now use the workers to put pressure on the employers so that we can finally make progress at the negotiating table.” Collective bargaining talks will continue in Berlin on February 6.