Lufthansa strike to hit 200,000 passengers as ground staff walk out

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Up to 200,000 passengers on Lufthansa can have their flights cancelled by a short-notice strike involving ground staff on the German airline.

A brief-notice walk-out by 25,000 members of the Verdi union geared toward disrupting passenger flights will run from 4am on Tuesday 20 February till 7.10am on Wednesday 21 February.

The principal results will probably be felt on the key hubs, Frankfurt and Munich, although Lufthansa employees at Berlin, Cologne-Bonn, Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Stuttgart can even strike.

Lufthansa warns passengers: “Due to the strike, we currently assume that only around 10 to 20 per cent of the Lufthansa airline flight programme can be operated, particularly on 20 February.”

The German airline presently carries round 200,000 passengers a day. Besides the affect on Tuesday’s flights, the “first wave” of exits on Wednesday is being focused – main to many extra cancellations.

Research by The Independent means that the overwhelming majority of flights to and from Frankfurt and Munich, together with all hyperlinks serving UK airports, are grounded on Tuesday.

The first flight from Frankfurt to London on Wednesday can also be cancelled.

Lufthansa says: “Passengers who are affected by flight cancellations because of the Verdi strike will be informed by email or via the Lufthansa app. We regret the inconvenience for our guests.”

Under European air passengers’ rights guidelines, travellers are entitled to be rebooked on any accessible flight as quickly as attainable – and supplied with meals and lodging as crucial, at Lufthansa’s expense.

Talks between the union and airline broke down final week, with Verdi claiming 96 per cent of members had rejected the latest supply from Lufthansa.

The union says pay for ground staff is slipping behind different Lufthansa employees, and that at a time of file earnings the airline ought to “give employees back part of their lost income from the corona pandemic”. It warns: “Major flight cancellations and delays are expected to occur.”

Verdi negotiator Marvin Reschinsky mentioned: “While the group gives its pilots with annual basic incomes of up to €270,000 [£231,000] high double-digit pay increases, ground workers with starting hourly wages of sometimes €13 [£11] are not even expected to be compensated for the price increases of the last few years.

“This is blatantly anti-social.”

Talks are due to resume on Wednesday, after the strike.