The German union “Verdi” has called for a warning strike by its members who are ground workers at German airports. In an ongoing battle with airport operators, the ground handlers at these airports will stage limited strikes during the day tomorrow. According to Verdi, the strike schedule is as follows:
Frankfurt – 05:00 to 14:30 local time
Munich – 06:00 to 14:00 local time
Dusseldorf – 08:00 to 14:00 local time
Cologne – 04:00 to 12:00 local time
Stuttgart – 06:00 to 11:00 local time
Lufthansa has cancelled over 400 flights and you can find specific flight status on Lufthansa’s Update Page.
For today March 26, Lufthansa has canceled most of it’s flights from the USA to Frankfurt, however it appears that only Boston is affected on March 27. Most of the March 27 cancellations affect Intra-Germany and Intra-European routes.
Their tickets are booked through UA/PMCO. I think their current itinerary is (small airport)-IAH-LHR-MUC-BUD MUC-FRA-IAH-(small airport), so they could have significant problems both ways if the strikes hit on their travel days. It’s award tickets, so they took what they could at low redemptions. I know there’s a nonstop from MUC-IAD. They were originally on that flight, but it was rescheduled so that they couldn’t make a connection along the way home. It’s still an option, but they might be SOL. Thankfully they’re book in business for everything except their domestic US segments, so they should be helped out more than a kettle at the back of the bus.
I’m just glad I live in a major int’l hub (ATL) so I can avoid some of the odd routings they have to do!
Any end in sight for this lately-regular wave of strikes? I’m going to be flying MUC-ATL on Delta on May 1–I know, a potentially prime day for strikes already. So far I haven’t seen any strikes affecting Delta, but my parents will be traveling through MUC twice and FRA once during the last week of April and first week of May. They will be on LH flights and would be affected by these strikes.
There is no end to the these as far as I know until they settle their disputes. A few weeks ago the courts ordered it illiegal and ordered everyone back to work, so this is a new surprise to me as well. USUALLY, the Long Haul int’l services are rarely impacted (except today because of the surprise). So I think your parents should be safe on their long hauls, but if they are connecting within Germany or to europe, they may have issues. If they are transferring within Germany, Lufthansa has been putting people on trains to get them to their destinations. If your parents are going to another country within europe, it may be a good idea to at least learn what their rail options are in case they are affected. From Frankurt or MUC its very easy to transit europe on train (though it may take another full day or so!). I’m transiting DUS FRA IST LHR and MUC in early may so I fully understand your concern!! If anything new comes up re: the strike, I’ll post an update.