The airline Lufthansa promised at the end of last year that the terrible conditions in the summer of 2022 with its stream of delays, airport bottlenecks, queues at security checks and lost luggage, will not happen again in 2023.
It's a waste of time. The German group has decided to anticipate potential problems and chaos at its two hubs in Frankfurt and Munich.. Lufthansa will therefore be reducing its summer schedule. A spokesperson for the airline has explained that the company will be withdrawing flights from its schedule even before the end of the summer. the start of the IATA summer season (31 March to 31 October 2023). According to the spokesperson, the employment situation at European airports has still not returned to pre-Covid levels.
The carrier's decision is a to make up for last-minute flight cancellations like last year. At the time, Lufthansa had to considerably reduce the offer initially planned during the summer. These drastic cuts in its flight schedule had particularly affected its Frankfurt hubbecause there were not enough operational ground staff.
34,000 flights cancelled, mainly in Europe?
The Lufthansa spokesman did not officially specify the number of cancelled flights. However, according to an article in the business weekly WirtschaftsWoche, 34,000 flights to be withdrawn from the initial summer schedule. It would appear that the routes concerned would essentially be those with several daily flights. This would concern particularly Europe. Transcribed into reality, this reduction would mean 500 fewer frequencies per day.
The number of flights withdrawn could even increase. The Lufthansa group could also announce frequency cuts at Eurowings, Austrian Airlines and Swiss.
What's more, the German air transport unions are already talking of new warning strikes to show the public the deplorable state of the sector in the country. In an interview with rbb regional radio (Berlin), ver.di union vice-president Christine Behle has warned of a "chaotic summer". as it did last year if nothing changes with regard to airport staff pay. There is a "catastrophic labour shortage" linked to the departure of staff who feel their salaries are too low.
