According to the Lufthansa boss, the chaos in air traffic will last until autumn. The customers of the largest tourism provider don’t seem to mind, but the staff groans.
According to Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr, the problems in air traffic cannot be solved quickly.
The situation, which is characterized by a lack of staff, a shortage of parts and restricted airspace, will “hardly improve in the short term,” said the head of Europe’s largest airline group in a letter of apology to the passengers. While the Verdi union is complaining about increasing attacks and health problems for the staff, the Tui tourism group is reporting unbroken demand. According to his own statement, Transport Minister Volker Wissing “has himself become a victim of the difficult conditions at the airports”. The FDP politician refers to many canceled flights in the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger” (Wednesday).
Tui Germany boss Stefan Baumert said, “despite all the challenges due to staff shortages in the industry, the holidays will go smoothly for the vast majority”. Unlike some airlines, the group’s own airline Tuifly does not want to cancel any flights. Baumert said on Monday evening in Berlin that the flight schedule for the company’s own Tuifly machines would remain in place, as would plans for additional reserve aircraft at peak times.
Tuifly is confident
According to the manager, the demand for summer travel has increased significantly in recent weeks and is “consistently above the level of 2019”. “We are catching up rapidly and are more than confident that we will see summer business this year that will come close to 2019,” Baumert confirmed earlier expectations. Bookings for the months of September and October have also been rising sharply for a few days.
Tui cannot tell that people are holding back on bookings because of problems with handling at airports. There is also no evidence that customers with the so-called flex tariffs are increasingly using the option to rebook or cancel free of charge up to 15 days before departure. “They all want to go on vacation,” said Baumert. “But we are seeing record numbers of calls to our customer hotlines.”
Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr, on the other hand, warned the passengers that there would be further difficulties. The industry is planning several thousand new hires in Europe alone. “However, this increase in capacity will only have a stabilizing effect in the coming winter.” On behalf of the company, he apologized for the fact that after the Corona slump, the “start-up of the complex air traffic system from almost zero to currently almost 90 percent again” had not led to the desired reliability, punctuality and robustness. The manager admitted his own mistakes and found that the Lufthansa Group also lacked staff in some areas.
High sickness rate among staff
Wissing did not rule out a long-term change in the organization of security checks at airports. It is currently in the hands of private companies, with the federal police merely supervising. He cannot judge whether Bavaria’s model is the best solution for the whole of Germany, said Wissing according to the “Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger”. In Bavaria, the checks are organized by an aviation security company in which the Free State holds a 51 percent stake.
The Verdi trade union complained about increasing physical and psychological violence against the staff in the terminals. “We see that the frustration of the passengers is increasingly being taken out on employees who cannot do anything about the problems,” said Verdi union secretary Sven Bergelin to the newspapers of the Funke media group. According to the union, the high sickness rate at German airports is also a problem. “Due to the high stress on site, we currently have a sickness rate of 20 percent at the airports,” said Bergelin.
After more than two years of the corona pandemic, the tour operator Tui is in demand for classic travel destinations, especially around the Mediterranean, especially Turkey. Antalya has therefore moved to second place behind Mallorca. Greece will also continue to be in strong demand. “Crete is heading for a record season,” reported Baumert. Portugal, Cyprus and Egypt are also currently making strong gains. When it comes to car trips, the main focus is on the German Baltic Sea coast and the northern Italian lakes.
Source: Stern
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
