Well, if it isn’t France that’s having a strike, it’s Germany that has one. This time the Verdi Union is calling out its workers on strike at Cologne (Köln), Frankfurt, Munich and Bremen on Tuesday 10th April
This board is going to have a lot of cancelled flights tomorrow – Image, Economy Class and Beyond
Over 800 flights are due to be cancelled.
The strike affects ground handling service and support services. 800 flights are in the bin, with 58 of those being long haul flights.
The strike will run between 05:00 to 18:00 Central European Time, with flights resuming as-normal on the 11th April.
Lufthansa and Eurowings are posting replacement schedules. If you’ve provided Lufthansa contact details, you’ll be actively notified of changes via SMS or e-mail.
If your flight isn’t affected, you will need to arrive at the airport earlier than planned.
In terms of changes, if you need to re-book with a flight from or via Frankfurt or Munich with any Lufthansa Group airline (except Swiss), you can change your flight for free for another flight in the next seven days.
German Domestic passengers can convert their tickets from flight tickets to train tickets operated by Deutsche Bahn.
Lufthansa group… is… to put it in a simple term – annoyed. Bettina Volkens, Member of the Executive Board for Human Resources and Legal Affairs of Deutsche Lufthansa states:
“It is completely unacceptable for the union to impose this conflict on uninvolved passengers. Lufthansa is not a part of this collective bargaining conflict, but unfortunately our customers and our company are being affected by the consequences of this dispute,” says
“Politicians and legislators must define clear rules for strikes and industrial actions,” demands Volkens. “We regret that the travel plans of so many customers are being affected by this Verdi strike and we are working on minimizing the impact as much as possible”.
Other airlines are reacting, with Finnair advising passengers to travel lightly
Industrial action at Munich and Frankfurt airports is expected to slow down airport operations tomorrow. Please arrive to the airport in good time, be prepared for queues, and travel with hand luggage only, if possible.
— Finnair (@Finnair) April 9, 2018
British Airways has posted an advisory too. Other airlines will probably react in the same way – so check before you travel.
Strikes are never welcome, and Verdi’s actions are pretty nuclear.
The fallout from this strike will not be pleasant.
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To be fair, the Germans may strike at times, but nobody does strikes like the French.