Strikes disrupt air travel across Europe, TSA call-outs impact U.S.

BERLIN, Germany – Hostilities between aviation workers and their employers have resumed across Europe, with thousands of passengers caught up in the first major stoppage of the year. Security workers at Berlin’s Tegel Airport took industrial action between 5 a.m. and 8:45 a.m., the busiest time of the week for outbound departures. The strike triggered cancellations that will disrupt travel through the morning. Lufthansa and its subsidiaries Eurowings are hardest hit, with multiple flights to Frankfurt, Cologne and Munich grounded, reported the UK's Independent.

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The Intelligent Aerospace take: January 7-While we primarily focus on the technology side of air travel, the human side of the business obviously impacts the aerospace world as well. Security workers in Germany went on strike for approximately four hours to demand higher wages this morning, and Ryanair crews based in Spain plan to strike starting tomorrow. In the United States, TSA workers have been calling out at much hire rates than normal as the partial government shutdown has those workers reporting for duty but not drawing a paycheck because the federal government has run out of funding as lawmakers and the executive branch battle over funding for a wall on the U.S./Mexico border. With no compromise in sight in the U.S. and strikes planned for additional days in Europe, air travel may be impacted for some time in the western world.

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Jamie Whitney, Associate Editor
Intelligent Aerospace

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