Customers of Switzerland’s flag-carrier airline SWISS have been hit by cancellations today as its German parent company Lufthansa stages a one-day strike. Around 1.000 SWISS passengers are expected to have their flights cancelled due to the strike.
Lufthansa ground staff in Germany announced the one-day strike over a proposal for salaries to increase by 9,5 percent. The request, pushed forth by unions, was not met by Lufthansa bosses. The strike has seen more than 130.000 passengers in Germany have their flights cancelled or itineraries revised.
SWISS spokesperson Karin Montani told the AWP news agency that to tackle the situation, SWISS would be making arrangements to get passengers to their destinations as soon as possible. Such arrangements are said to include SWISS using larger planes for several flights on Thursday (July 28) so that passengers can travel to their destination on the day after the strike, without knock-on effects for days to come.
News of Lufthansa’s strike was unlikely to bring joy to staff at any of Switzerland’s airports. Since the start of the summer season, Swiss airports have been struggling with understaffing and a sharp increase in demand as the COVID-19 pandemic has waned.
Zurich airport has been criticised for mismanagement and loss of passengers’ luggage, while disruption at Geneva airport is expected to continue into the autumn and winter.