A significant disruption occurred across Germany’s air travel network on Monday as workers at 13 major airports, including the pivotal hubs of Frankfurt and Munich, carried out a one-day strike. The protest resulted in the cancellation of most flights, causing widespread travel disruptions. The strike, which commenced at midnight and lasted for 24 hours, involved public-sector employees alongside ground and security staff working in the airports.
In Frankfurt, Germany’s largest airport, traffic management reported that 1,054 of the scheduled 1,116 flights were canceled due to the strike action. Berlin Airport faced a complete halt, with all regular departures and arrivals being called off. Meanwhile, Hamburg Airport announced that no flights would be able to depart, Cologne/Bonn halted regular passenger services, and Munich Airport advised travelers to brace for substantial reductions in their flight schedules.
The service workers union ver.di orchestrated the strike to cover major airports in Hamburg, Bremen, Hannover, Berlin, Duesseldorf, Dortmund, Cologne/Bonn, Leipzig/Halle, Stuttgart, and Munich. In the smaller airports of Weeze and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden, only security staff joined in the walkout.
Though the union revealed plans for the strike on Friday, they extended their action at Hamburg Airport with an unexpected additional strike on Sunday. This decision was part of efforts to maximize the effectiveness of their action.
The strike is characterized as a “warning strike,” a common maneuver in Germany during wage negotiations. It stems from two distinct pay disputes: one related to securing new pay and condition terms for airport security personnel and another involving broader wage discussions for federal and municipal government employees. Previous protests have already occurred at Cologne/Bonn, Duesseldorf, Hamburg, and Munich airports amid these negotiations. Talks for the federal and municipal sector are set to resume on Friday, while discussions for airport security worker conditions are anticipated to begin on March 26.
