Flight cancellations: warning strikes at airports – what travelers are imminent Monday

More than 500,000 people will not be able to start their flight on Monday as planned: The Verdi union called for 24 hours of warning strikes at 13 German airports, including Germany’s largest in Frankfurt am Main and Munich. What it is about and what travelers should know:

Where and when will go on strike?

On Monday (March 10th) from 0:00 a.m. to 11:59 p.m., the employees of the public service and the ground traffic services are called up at the following airports to the warning strike: Munich, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Cologne/Bonn, Düsseldorf, Dortmund, Hannover, Bremen, Hamburg, Berlin-Brandenburg and Leipzig-Halle. In addition, Verdi also calls on the air security personnel to the warning strike in another collective bargaining conflict. This call also applies to the Weeze airports near Düsseldorf and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden.

How big are the effects?

Groß: Air traffic will come to a standstill in large parts of the country. According to an initial estimate by the ADV airport association, more than 3,400 flights are expected to fail, around 510,000 passengers cannot start their trips or at least not as planned. ADV general manager Ralph Beisel speaks of a horror scenario for passengers in relation to the strikes in the public service. “To strike eleven locations at the same time has a new dimension”. The warning strikes have “far -reaching consequences for individual mobility and economic processes”.

The largest German airport in Frankfurt am Main, for example, warns on its website: “All tasks that enable fully flight operations are exposed to the strike. A start of the trip in Frankfurt will not be possible.” Passengers should not even come to the airport on Monday. The change of transit passengers is “affected by the effects of the effects” and cannot take place.

How do I find out if my flight is affected?

The airports and airlines provide information on their websites about the status of all flights. Already at the weekend, numerous departures for Monday were marked as canceled on the airports.

What rights do I have if my flight is because of the warning strike?

In the event of a strike -related flight loss or a delay of more than three hours, the airline must offer travelers an alternative transport to the goal. They are often automatically rebooked to another flight. Or the airline offers to convert the flight ticket into a train ticket. This happens especially with painted flights within Germany.

If passengers hang longer at the airport due to strikes, airlines must provide childcare services, for example in the form of catering vouchers for drinks and snacks on site.

Do I get money back too?

In the event of delays from three hours at the destination and short-term flight cancellations, the EU flight regulation regulation provides for compensation payments from 250 to 600 euros per passenger under certain conditions.

In a way, if passengers can demand these funds in the event of flight problems as a result of a warning strike depends simply on who is strike. If parts of the airport staff are in a warning strike on Monday, the prospects for compensation are rather bad. The case can be different if employees of an airline go on strike. In any case, the right to replacement transport is and regardless of whether passengers are also entitled to compensation.

Hospitals, daycare centers, garbage disposal, airports – why is so much going on?

At the moment there are collective bargaining in the public service of the federal government and municipalities. With warning strikes, the employee side increases the pressure on employers. Numerous professional groups belong to the public service, many of them have already settled the work in the course of the current collective bargaining round, for example in clinics, rescue centers, nursing homes or local public transport. Airports were also occasionally affected – but not to the upcoming extent.

The next round of negotiations – the third – begins on March 14th in Potsdam.

Then why is almost all flight operations lame?

The once municipal airport operators have a larger part of the staff after the tariff rules of the public service. An industry agreement is also negotiated in parallel for soil traffic services.

Not all employees are at public service airports. However, the strongly division -part system of an airport is susceptible to work, because all units can only ensure safe operation in close cooperation. If a group fails, the entire company stands.

What do the strikers want?

The union calls for eight percent more wages in the collective bargaining from the federal government and the municipalities, but at least 350 euros more, as well as three additional free days.

And what does the opposite side want?

The municipal employers are too expensive. The core demands would mean additional costs for the municipalities of around eleven percent or almost 15 billion euros annually, said the general manager of the Association of the municipal employers’ associations (VKA), Niklas Benrath. This cannot be represented in the face of empty cash register and high debt. The required additional days are seen particularly critically. They would lead to restrictions in the municipal services, said the association representative.

So far, however, employers have not submitted a specific offer. Benrath justified this by the fact that the negotiations had not been so far. With more than 20 individual claims, it must be checked, which cost. “Basically, it is a misconception that a formal offer always requires for successful collective bargaining.”

How will it go after Monday? Do more strikes threaten?

In individual federal states, various industries are sometimes strike after Monday. At the end of the week, the tariff parties will continue to negotiate. According to the will of the employers, this negotiating round should bring a “sustainable solution”. If the parties agree, would be over with the warning strikes. It is open whether this succeeds.

Are airports only affected on Monday?

The airports are particularly strike nationwide, but in some countries on Monday and sometimes other industries are also affected. In Düsseldorf, for example, the Rheinbahn, in Hamburg, affects clinics, daycare centers and city cleaning.