Lufthansa ground staff went on strike this morning. The airline has canceled a large number of flights scheduled for today. More than 100,000 passengers were affected.

Frankfurt and Munich were the most affected

Lufthansa’s announced ground staff warning strike began at dawn, a spokesman for the Ver.di union confirmed at Frankfurt airport, according to Tagesschau.de.

The first flights were canceled on Tuesday evening. According to the company, more than 100,000 passengers were forced to change their schedules. In other German airports, connections to/from Frankfurt and Munich have been canceled altogether.

More than 50% of workers participate in the strike. The centers in Frankfurt and Munich will be most affected by the planned 27-hour strike. As a precaution, the airline canceled 80 to 90 percent of the roughly 1,000 flights scheduled for today.

In addition to Frankfurt and Munich, the Ver.di union also called for workers at various Lufthansa companies in Hamburg, Berlin and Düsseldorf to join the strike.

However, a spokesman for Dusseldorf airport said flights there were continuing without problems, although 40 Lufthansa employees had stopped working. There were no delays or long waits between 6am and 8am, when air traffic is usually heavy.

Travel alternatives

If flights are canceled in Germany, customers can use a plane ticket to catch a train. Under no circumstances should passengers on canceled flights come to the airport, Lufthansa warned.

“Unfortunately, due to the strike, the rebooking desks are not staffed,” the airline’s website says. Free booking change options are available via lufthansa.com, the customer app and the service center.

However, passengers of Lufthansa subsidiaries and foreign airlines were not injured or only slightly injured. For example, direct flights subsidiary Eurowings plans to cover its entire schedule.

In the Munich and Frankfurt hubs, Swiss, Austrian and Brussels Airlines flights will be prioritized to keep the networks running. Lufthansa customers will then be redirected to these flights.

Salary and bonus increases

Today, strike meetings are planned in Berlin and Frankfurt. The strike is scheduled to end at 7:10 a.m. Thursday. Lufthansa expects some cancellations and delays on Thursday, but operations should be fully back to normal by Friday.

Collective negotiations are ongoing in the labor dispute. Ver.di is demanding 12.5% ​​more salary, but at least an additional €500 per month for a year. In addition, a uniform inflation compensation of €3,000 is required at group level. The next round of negotiations is scheduled for February 12 in Frankfurt am Main.