Lufthansa has announced plans to scrap a total of almost 3,000 flights at its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich this summer, accounting for short-notice sick calls from our crews.
The German flag carrier has chosen to focus its cuts on short- and medium-haul flights with many alternative travel options. It seeks to ensure vacation routes are affected as little as possible. The cuts will also affect the group’s Eurowings subsidiary brand.
Cuts to high-frequency and domestic destinations
Earlier this month, the carrier canceled almost 1,000 flights for the summer due to staff shortages. The flights in question comprised around 900 domestic and intra-European flights from its hubs at Frankfurt and Munich. The affected routes were mainly on the weekends, with most cancelations taking place on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. The cuts amounted to around 5% of the group’s weekend capacity.
The Star Alliance member has now confirmed it cancel a further 2,200 of a total of around 80,000 flights from its hubs in Frankfurt and Munich for the summer. The routes affected in the latest round of cuts consist primarily of intra-European flights that the group serves with high frequency and domestic routes that have realistic alternative transportation options.
The cancellations will largely avoid major classic vacation and leisure destinations, which the airline notes have maintained a strong demand and reliable load factors. Flights facing the chop are primarily ones on which passengers can be offered a corresponding travel alternative by air or rail.
Lufthansa noted it might also adjust flight times and has promised to notify affected passengers as soon as possible to minimize disruption and arrange alternative transportation methods. The airline group expects the situation to return to normal overall in 2023.
Staff shortages abound in the industry.
The entire aviation industry has recently faced significant delays and cancellations worldwide. Major hub airports throughout Europe, in particular, have faced severe bottlenecks and staff shortages as travel rebounds. One of the critical areas still struggling to meet renewed capacity has been ground handling and ancillary services. Airlines have faced significant backlogs with everything from security and check-in to mountains of uncollected baggage.
The strain has been particularly evident in recent weeks as Air Traffic Control strikes, weather events, and an uptick in short-notice sick calls from crews have put additional pressure on the system. The airline’s hub at Frankfurt Airport recently invested heavily in recruitment but recognized that it was not feasible to hire the necessary staff as quickly as intended.
Staffing shortages around the world have led to significant disruptions this summer. Several major airports have taken measures to account for the deficit and reduce customer disruption. Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport has announced it will limit the number of passengers this summer to 70,000 per day to ensure smooth operations, down 16% from the original schedule.
In the UK, officials at London’s Gatwick Airport are seeking to cut 50 flights daily to reduce strain. The move comes even as easyJet, which has a significant presence at the airport, announced it would be removing 40 flights a day from its schedule due to staff shortages.
Like many other carriers, Lufthansa laid off a significant number of employees over the last two years. Lufthansa Chief Operations Officer, Detlef Kayser, said in an interview with German publication Die Welt this month that he did not regret the cuts as they mostly came from overseas contractors such as US-based food vendors. The airline still has several options for meeting the increased demand with fewer resources.
Lufthansa has begun reactivating its Airbus A340-600s to meet capacity demand. The airline sent its entire fleet of the quadjet widebodies to storage at the start of the pandemic.
The airline still has its Airbus A380s in storage between France and Spain. The behemoths are frequently the subject of reactivation rumors, but no solid plans for their reentry into service could be confirmed at this time.
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