Airport chaos: no end in sight

Created: 06/29/2022, 13:30

By: Lisa Mayerhofer

The lack of staff is causing chaos at German airports and airlines.

© David Young/dpa

The federal government wants to use workers from Turkey to remedy the shortage of staff at German airports.

But this measure will hardly be able to eliminate the flight chaos in this holiday season.

Berlin/Frankfurt – Hundreds of canceled flights, long waiting times – and when the plane does take off, food and drinks are still missing on board: anyone who wants to fly this holiday season needs strong nerves.

The lack of staff is causing chaos at airports and airlines.

There is a shortage of workers everywhere: at the check-in counter, at security checks, on board or in baggage handling.

Foreign professionals to fix airport chaos

The federal government is now declaring war on the acute staff shortages at German airports and is facilitating the deployment of foreign employees in the short term.

"We make it possible for companies to use helpers from abroad, especially from Turkey," said Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD) on Wednesday in Berlin after coordinated government proposals.

But it is questionable whether the foreign specialists can solve the problem so quickly.

For security reasons, many airport employees have to undergo a background check – which can sometimes take several months.

In the case of applicants from abroad, the process is likely to drag on even longer.

A quick solution to the staff shortage is proving rather difficult.

Flight chaos: Lufthansa boss admits mistakes and apologizes

According to Lufthansa boss Carsten Spohr, the problems at airports and airlines cannot be solved quickly.

The situation, which is characterized by a lack of staff, a shortage of parts and restricted airspace, will “hardly improve in the short term,” said the head of Europe’s largest airline group in a letter of apology to the passengers.

He attuned the customers to further difficulties.

The industry is planning several thousand new hires in Europe alone.

"However, this increase in capacity will only have a stabilizing effect in the coming winter."

At the same time, the Lufthansa boss apologized on behalf of the company for the fact that after the Corona slump, the "start-up of the complex air traffic system from almost zero to currently almost 90 percent again" had not led to the desired reliability, punctuality and robustness.

The manager admitted his own mistakes and found that the Lufthansa Group also lacked staff in some areas.

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Expert on airport chaos: "It was a classic bad plan"

In fact, the airlines and airport operators as well as holidaymakers are now bearing the consequences of the excessive downsizing during the pandemic.

"Many companies have used the Corona period to get rid of veteran employees and reorganize themselves - with the calculation of then hiring cheaper workers again," says aviation expert Gerald Wissel, head of the Hamburg consulting firm Airborne Consulting, to the

.

But this calculation did not work out with the jobs at the airport with moderate pay and unattractive working conditions.

In addition, the rush this summer is greater than expected.

"The airlines and airports expected that they would not reach the pre-corona level again until 2024 or 2025 at the earliest," Wissel told the magazine.

"That was a classic bad plan."