UPDATE—-The strike is now expected to last AT LEAST until Wednesday 5:00a Frankfurt local time. Initially the strike was set to only last 24 hours from 5:00a Monday.
Workers are set to strike for a third day today at Frankfurt airport after sides failed to reach an agreeement during their negotiations. The strike will be in effect for 24 hours beginning 5:00a local Frankfurt time (4:00 GMT).
Fraport, the airport’s operating authority expects however to have at least 70 percent of flights operate normally by bringing in temporary staffing. Lufthansa being far and away the biggest operator at the airport stands the most to lose in terms of the amount of flights being canceled. However, as was the case last week during a 2 day strike, Lufthansa still managed to operate most of its long haul commitments without cancelations.
So far the strike has cost Lufthansa approximately 40 million Euro (approximately 53 million US dollars). As had been the case last week, Lufthansa is offering affected passengers the ability to rebook flights, request a refund, or if traveling within Germany the ability to use rail services to reach their destinations. Lufthansa has already published a list of canceled flights, and you can find them here.
The strike stems from ramp workers who manage aircraft in and out of their parking positions requesting an increase in wages due to more complex operations at the airport due to a new runway being opened recently, which has increased traffic flow.
Hopefully a resolution will be reached soon. One thing that travelers DO NOT appreciate is the way in which these strikes are called. Usually on short notice, and for only several hours at a time makes it very unpredictable. This way of conducting the strike tends to disrupt operations more than any other type of strike. But I guess this is the objective that is desired by the workers and their representatives.
