Lufthansa strike: What travellers and charter sailors need to be aware of now
Max Gasser
· 06.03.2024
The United Services Union (ver.di) has once again called on Lufthansa ground staff to go on warning strike on 7 and 8 March 2024. From 4.00 a.m. on Thursday, 7 March 2024, until 7.10 a.m. on Saturday, 9 March 2024, this is expected to have a major impact on the flight schedule. Only ten to 20 per cent of flights are likely to be maintained. According to Lufthansa, around 200,000 passengers will be affected, including both long-haul and domestic flights.
The Frankfurt and Munich hubs will be particularly affected, but there will also be cancellations and delays at other airports such as Leipzig/Halle, Dresden, Hanover and Bremen due to the strike.
This includes Hamburg. Here, as in Frankfurt, ver.di has also called on security check employees to strike again from tonight (10 pm) until tomorrow evening (10 pm). For this reason, all 141 departures on Thursday will be cancelled or will take place without passengers, as the airport announced. In addition, there will be no early evening check-in from Wednesday evening until Thursday evening. Passengers whose flights have been cancelled should contact their airline and not come to the airport. In order to compensate for the cancelled connections, many rebookings are expected for Friday and the following days.
In view of this, charter sailors among all travellers must also prepare for potential flight cancellations and delays on the way to the sailing area or back home.
What passengers should bear in mind during a warning strike at the airport
Charter sailors and their planning and bookings are often particularly affected by such strikes. In particular, if the flight to the starting point of the sailing trip is cancelled, this can have a serious impact on the planned trip.
Despite the strikes at Lufthansa and the associated uncertain flight times, they and other passengers need not be helpless. Thanks to the Passenger Rights Regulation, they have various claims against the airlines in the event of delays and flight cancellations. Here are the most important tips on what sailors should look out for in such situations, what rights they have and how to exercise them:
1. accept flight schedule changes
If only departure times or transfer airports are changed and this is feasible due to personal scheduling, then it is often best to accept these changes. In the event of a strike, the many cancellations often mean that no better alternative flights are available.
In some cases, it is also possible to switch to a hire car or Deutsche Bahn at the airline's expense. At least the latter is also problematic in the current situation due to the announced GDL strike in passenger transport from Thursday, 2 am to Friday, 1 pm.
2. compensation for delays
As a passenger, you are entitled to compensation of between 200 and 600 euros for delays of more than three hours or flight cancellations, depending on the flight route. The amount of the claim is independent of the ticket price.
If you miss a connecting flight and are rebooked to a later flight (often automatically and only by e-mail notification), ask the airline's service desk to tell you the reason for the delay in writing.
After more than two hours of unscheduled waiting time at the airport, you are entitled to drinks and snacks. Catering vouchers are sometimes issued, or you can charge for some of the food and drink later. In the event of delays that require an overnight stay, the airline must provide accommodation and cover the costs.
3. complete cancellation: unauthorised clarification necessary
If the worst-case scenario of a complete cancellation occurs or a flight is offered days later or earlier, the situation becomes more complex. What is certain is that you have the right to a replacement flight or alternatively to a refund of the flight price.
However, many customers think that the airline also has to reimburse the charter of the boat if it cancels, but this is almost never the case. This is because charter trips are often not package holidays, but rental contracts, which means that the customer is stuck with the costs. In this case, you should check whether there are flights from other airlines to your destination on the originally planned flight date. If this is the case, you can either ask the airline to book them or simply book them yourself and charge the airline for the costs later. This is because the airline is not released from liability if it unilaterally cancels or offers a flight much later.
If the agency also books the transfer, a skipper and other possible services, the offer comes very close to a package holiday and thus also to the organiser's liability. The problem: If the cruise is cancelled, the customer must have this checked in retrospect via legal action in individual cases. A complex, lengthy procedure with an uncertain outcome.
To protect yourself against this eventuality, it is advisable to take out a Travel cancellation and curtailment insurance.
4. lost luggage: be careful with expensive equipment
If the baggage does not arrive, the customer may buy toiletries and the most necessary clothing on site and later charge the airline. The value of the suitcase and contents is limited to a maximum of 1,500 euros if the luggage can no longer be found. However, only the current value will be reimbursed, not the original price. If the suitcase turns up later, it must be returned to the customer.
If you are travelling with your personal lifejacket, oilskin or handheld radio, you should make a conscious decision as to whether this expensive equipment should be included in your checked baggage. If such items are lost, reimbursement becomes complicated because this equipment is often not considered essential.
More about chartering:
The background to the Lufthansa strike
The repeated strikes are the result of ongoing salary negotiations at Group level. According to ver.di, these affect around 25,000 ground staff employed by various companies within the Group. These include Deutsche Lufthansa, Lufthansa Technik, Lufthansa Cargo, Lufthansa Technik Logistik Services, Lufthansa Engineering and Operational Services and other subsidiaries.
In the current wage dispute between ver.di and Lufthansa, two waves of warning strikes have already brought passenger traffic to a standstill for around one day each. In essence, Lufthansa only improved its offer on two points in the negotiations from 21 to 22 February 2024. These were the reduction of zero months and a salary increase of 0.5 per cent.
However, the airline extended the term of its offer by a further three months to a total of 28 months. This means that the union's demand for a pay rise of 12.5 per cent or at least 500 euros per month remains unfulfilled. Ahead of the planned fifth round of collective bargaining on 13 and 14 March, the service union now wants to increase the pressure on the airline with the strike.
What are the aviation security forces demanding?
In the negotiations for security staff, ver.di wants to make it clear to the employers that the current offer must be improved. Despite five rounds of negotiations with the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies (BDLS), no agreement has yet been reached on higher salaries for the approximately 25,000 employees in this sector. Negotiations will continue on 20 March.
The proposed model for overtime regulations is also criticised, as it requires employees to work overtime for more than one and a half months without additional pay. Ver.di is in favour of an hourly wage increase of 2.80 euros and overtime bonuses from the first hour of overtime.
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Max Gasser
Editor Test & Technology
