Lufthansa’s CEO comments on July flight cancellations
After a stagnant two years of suffering from the pandemic, the Lufthansa Group of airlines came back strong with a ramped-up schedule for this summer. Unfortunately for the airline group, the summer might not bring in all the recovery funds it had initially hoped for. For the month of July, Lufthansa and Eurowings have canceled almost 1,000 of scheduled flights.
Ever since the pandemic restrictions began lifting, the travel rebound in Europe has been quicker than previously anticipated. Lufthansa had initially planned to increase its 2022 capacity to 75% of pre-pandemic levels, a ramp-up from 70% previously. Despite continued uncertainty, every airline has been banking on the peak summer season to bring in the needed passenger bookings.
However, a significant problem soon came haunting the European aviation industry as it suffered from severe staff shortages, which affected airport and airline operations, air traffic control, and ground services. And unfortunately for the German flag carrier, the staffing crunch is seeping further into the summer as Frankfurt and Munich airports are still struggling to rehire the required workforce.
In response, Lufthansa has canceled nearly a thousand of its scheduled summer flights to ensure operational stability. The German carrier has scrapped an estimated 900 domestic and intra-European flights from Frankfurt and Munich for the following month, including those from its Eurowings subsidiary brands.
The canceled flights were scheduled on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays and represent approximately 5% of the airline’s typical weekend capacity. Lufthansa and Eurowings have said they would immediately inform passengers about the cancelations and provide rebooking options if possible.
While Lufthansa and Eurowings state they have not made the decision lightly and regret the cancelations and associated inconvenience for passengers, they said cancelations needed to happen ahead of time to give passengers more advance notice. The airlines have also said that they had already taken steps to attempt to preserve operations.
Meanwhile, Lufthansa’s Chief Executive Officer Jens Ritter commented.
“In the last couple of weeks, many people have reached out to me via LinkedIn and other means to express their discontent with the current situation at Lufthansa. Yesterday, unfortunately, we had to announce further major cancellations at our hubs in Munich and Frankfurt for the month of July. And I can absolutely understand the frustration. We are experiencing a unique situation in which a number of factors have come together.”
He also highlighted that the Star Alliance member has been seeing a solid and robust passenger demand with many full flights in the coming months, which are critical for the airline’s recovery from the crisis.
However, Ritter went on to mention that in regards to the large number of people laid off from the aviation industry at the height of the pandemic, many of them have found work elsewhere. Thus, the airline’s system partners, such as the airports and caterers, are now struggling to recruit.
Towards the end, Ritter emphasized that canceling the vast number of flights was the only short-term solution available to stabilize operations, improve the quality for Lufthansa’s passengers, and also to protect its employees.
“I understand that this may mean that your travel plans change significantly, and you may have to be rebooked on other flights, carriers, or different modes of transport. I am very sorry for the difficulties this may cause many of you and I promise that we at Lufthansa are working tirelessly to improve the situation as soon as possible.”
Lufthansa and Eurowings are joining the growing list of airlines that had to cut their summer plans short due to the post-pandemic issues. British Airways has already sliced its schedule at London’s Heathrow by 10% through October, and easyJet had also canceled hundreds of flights over the weekend.
Another casualty is KLM, as it was recently forced to fly empty planes due to issues at Amsterdam’s Schiphol. Unfortunately, it may be just a matter of time before the next airline joins the list, and the summer season gets even more disrupted in the unfortunate wake for passengers.
