Lufthansa ground crew strike leaves 100,000 facing disruptions

More than 100,000 passengers face flight disruptions as a result of strike action by Deutsche Lufthansa AG ground personnel on Wednesday, as Germany’s national carrier raced to offer alternative flights or rail substitutes.

Lufthansa will operate just 10% to 20% of about 1,000 scheduled flights on Feb. 7, when baggage handlers, cargo staff and other ground services crews go on strike, the airline said in a post on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Affected passengers shouldn’t show up at airports in Frankfurt, Munich, Hamburg, Berlin and Dusseldorf in the event of a cancellation as rebooking counters won’t be staffed, a spokesperson said.

Germany’s main services union Verdi called a strike from 4 a.m. CET on Wednesday to 7:10 a.m. on Feb. 8 after rejecting Lufthansa’s proposals for higher pay and better working conditions. It’s the latest in a wave of strike action that has hobbled transport in Germany in recent weeks after airport security staff, train drivers and local transport staff walked off the job.