New Strike Hits Frankfurt Flights

On Monday, some 240 flights were cancelled at Frankfurt am Main Airport when ground workers staged another strike against Fraport AG, the German airport’s operator. GdF, the workers’ union, is seeking better pay and working conditions for its members, and the company has rejected the outcome of an arbitration panel, calling it excessive and claiming it will inappropriately inflate pay scales for other workers at the airport. It said that the walkout would continue until 11pm tonight. Later, however, it was reported that the strike would continue until 5am Wednesday.

A Lufthansa spokeswoman said that the airline would be cancelling 160 flights for today, which is less than previously announced. These cancellations are for domestic and intra-European service, and intercontinental flights won’t be affected, she added.

Fraport is looking for temporary assistance from other international airports’ personnel and has been training some workers to take on different roles. Spokesman Jürgen Harrer said that operations on Monday were running smoothly at the airport, despite the disruption to service. He added that replacement personnel were brought in to ease the disruption. The spokesman said they are prepared for more strikes in the coming days. This followed the company saying on Sunday that it aimed to operate 50% of scheduled flights on Monday. It encouraged the union to return to the negotiating table.

About 190 of the companies traffic-operation-center staff, apron supervisors and apron controllers had previously walked off the job on Thursday and Friday. The walkout cost Fraport between €3.5 million and £4 million in lost sales due to the cancellation of about 30% of scheduled services. The company noted that €5 million would be lost every day if all air traffic was cancelled. Lufthansa, the national carrier, was the most affected by the strike and reported the cancellation of 232 flights, but a spokeswoman wouldn’t comment on the cost.

On Monday, Harrer said that there wasn’t any contact between Fraport and the union over the weekend. Herbert Mai, the head of labour relations for the company, said that the airport was able to operate 80% of flights on Monday, which meant they were doing better every day of the strikes. The cancellations were a hardship for many passengers and Frankfurt Airport clients. Management continually let the GdF know that they are ready for more talks.

The airport operator also said in a statement that it’s willing to talk with GdF at any time if the union is prepared to make compromises and if the strike action is halted. The excessive demands and stubborn attitude from the union is affecting passengers, airlines and the airport’s other staff. This has to stop, it added.

GdF negotiator Dirk Vogelsang noted this weekend that both sides have rigid stances and the management at Fraport seem set on breaking the industrial action by bringing in other staff from elsewhere. Separately, GdF chairman Markus Siebers says that, while the strike is effective, staff are disappointed Fraport hasn’t relaxed any. Until the company is ready to compromise, the union has sufficient funds to continue the industrial action. They are prepared to return to the negotiating table, but they can’t start from the very beginning again, he added.