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Flight chaos: How Germany wants to relax red tape to recruit foreign workers

The German government has announced more details on how it plans to help ease flight disruptions due to staff shortages in the aviation industry.

Passengers at Berlin airport in June.
Berlin Airport will be the only airport in the country unaffected by Monday's planned "Mega Strike," with flights cancelled almost everywhere else. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Christoph Soeder

What’s happening?

In view of major staff shortages at airports, the German government wants to cut red tape to allow foreign employees to work in Germany.

Temporary workers from abroad should be able to fill in at airports at short notice in sectors such as baggage handling and security checks, said Federal Transport Minister Volker Wissing, Labour Minister Hubertus Heil and Interior Minister Nancy Faeser at a joint press conference in Berlin on Wednesday. 

Faeser said the aim was for the government to issue permits quickly. This should enable skilled workers to be employed in Germany as soon as possible, particularly in ground service providers and private security firms.

“We are making it possible for companies to use support staff from abroad, especially from Turkey,” said Faeser.

The minister reiterated that security remained a top priority for Germany and staff will have to pass background checks.

Heil said that according to the air industry, several thousand workers who are currently not needed at airports in Turkey could plug the gaps in Germany.

He said the workers would be hired by the private companies directly. For their employment in Germany, the government plans to temporarily create the conditions in the form of  residence and work permits.

Heil added that the government would make sure that foreign workers are not exploited. Employees must be paid according to collective agreements and given decent housing, he pledged.

READ ALSO: Will Germany manage to tackle its airport chaos this summer?

Germany has come under fire in the past over the exploitation of foreign workers in the meat industry.

The government blamed the aviation industry for the staff shortages. “Ultimately, it is a private-sector problem that can only be solved by the companies,” said FDP politician Wissing. The companies had cut many jobs during the pandemic, he said.

German government ministers Hubertus Heil, Volker Wissing and Nancy Faeser speak at a Berlin press conference on Wednesday.

German government ministers Hubertus Heil, Volker Wissing and Nancy Faeser speak at a Berlin press conference on Wednesday. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Kay Nietfeld

The SPD’s Heil also took the companies to task.

“It is not a permanent solution,” Heil said. “It is not acceptable for companies to create problems and dump that on the state’s doorstep, so to speak.” He added that the industry must solve its staffing problem itself in the medium term.

The companies have a duty – and a vested interest – to be attractive employers, said Heil, adding that it is their customers who are suffering from the current chaos.

Heil criticised the fact that many companies in the aviation industry had laid off staff in the pandemic – or didn’t top up reduced hours pay despite government support. These decisions led to many employees quitting or looking for other, more attractive jobs, he said. 

Meanwhile, Government Commissioner for Tourism, Claudia Müller, accused firms of planning errors. It was “not difficult to foresee” that the time would come when “many people would finally want to get out and enjoy their holidays again”, the Green politician told Bild newspaper.

Open up priority lanes

The SNP’s Faeser urged the aviation industry to also take further measures to reduce the queues at check-in and security gates.

For example, fast or priority lanes could be opened for all travellers, she suggested. These are usually only open to business or first-class travellers.

However, concerns have been raised about how helpful extra workers from abroad will be for the current season. 

Many of the temp workers are likely to be deployed in August at the earliest – and that could be too late for the busiest season at many airports, said Thomas Richter, head of the employers’ association of ground handling service providers in air transport (ABL).

He added: “It doesn’t solve the problem, but it certainly helps.”

The shortage of staff at airlines and especially ground service providers is currently causing huge queues, delays and flight cancellations.

READ ALSO: ‘Arrive three hours early’: Your tips for flying in Germany this summer

Meanwhile, airlines across Europe are cancelling thousands of flights to relieve the overstretched system. Lufthansa alone is cancelling around 3,000 connections at its Frankfurt and Munich hubs over summer.

As The Local reported, Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr apologised for the disruption in an open letter to customers. 

According to a study by the Institute of the German Economy, there is currently a shortage of about 7,200 skilled workers at German airports.

The Federal Employers’ Association of Personnel Service Providers (BAP) said the situation at German airports is a taste of what the country can expect due to worsening labour shortages.

“Labour migration is therefore urgently needed. And at this point Germany cannot do without the expertise of temporary employment agencies, some of which operate worldwide – which are also on the ground in countries with different demographic trends – and can recruit the urgently needed staff there for employment in Germany,” BAP Managing Director Florian Swyter told Handelsblatt.

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TRAVEL NEWS

How can Germany fix its patchy rural transport connections?

While German cities are some of the best connected in the world, inadequate infrastructure in the countryside can create headaches for public transport users. Could new 'transfer hubs' be the answer?

How can Germany fix its patchy rural transport connections?

Last year, a major survey conducted by city guides publisher Time Out crowned Berlin the city with the best public transport in the world. The extensive bus, tram and train network was praised by 97 percent of Berlin residents, who noted that transport in the German capital tended to be safe, comfortable and reliable.

But for those who travel a short distance out into Brandenburg, Berlin’s rural neighbour, the contrast couldn’t be more striking: trains stop running at 6pm, buses come every 2-3 hours and residents often face a lengthy trek to their nearest bus or train station. 

This divide was confirmed in a 2021 study by Deutsche Bahn subsidiary ioki that looked at public transport connections in Germany. Researchers found that while around 27 million people who lived in German cities had very good access to public transport, the 55 million who lived in suburban or rural areas were much more badly served.

READ ALSO: 55 million people in Germany have ‘inadequate public transport’

According to Transport Minister Volker Wissing (FDP), rural areas are in “urgent need” of solutions to these gaps in public transport. 

Speaking to DPA on Tuesday, the FDP politician set out his plans for local ‘transfer hubs’ that he said would encourage more car users to use public transport – even in non-urban areas.  

What exactly is a transfer hub?

A ‘transfer hub’ – or Umstiegs-Hub in German – is a place designed for travellers to switch from one mode of transport to another. As an example, Wissing mentioned easily accessible train stations with parking spaces, good bus connections, cycle paths and e-car charging ports where people could easily switch from their car to a quick commute by rail into the nearest city.

“We need more attractive transfer points in rural areas,” the Transport Minister told DPA. “The federal states could consider for themselves which locations in which regions would be best for such transfer hubs. From there, rail connections could then be offered to the metropolitan regions at regular intervals.” 

As opposed to taking “coercive” measures to force the switch from car to public transport, a “constructive approach” that considers both modes of transport would take the country further, Wissing said. 

“I believe that there is an urgent need in Germany to orientate the structures in rural areas towards more multimodal transport,” he explained. “The convenient flexibility of the car and the efficiency of the railway can be combined if the infrastructure is right.”

READ ALSO: Why (and where) Germans are choosing to go on holiday by car this year

What impact could this have?

With Germany’s transport sector repeatedly missing its climate targets, the ministry needs to find ways to reduce emissions and encourage a more widespread use of sustainable transport.

According to Wissing, this could have a much bigger impact in the countryside than it would in a city like Frankfurt or Berlin, since people in rural areas tend to travel longer distances. 

“We can achieve a situation where a commuter travels perhaps 20 or 25 kilometres to a transfer hub instead of 100 kilometres each way to work by car,” said Wissing. “That would be up to 150 kilometres less per day – a huge potential reduction in CO2.”

Bayerischer Oberlandbahn in Warngau

A regional train run by the Bayerischer Oberlandbahn stops near Warngau. Photo: picture alliance/dpa | Lennart Preiss

But climate groups and transport companies have been pushing for a much more ambitious approach to expanding public transport in the countryside.

In its six-point plan for delivering good rural public transport, for example, the Association of German Transport Companies (VDV) calls for rail-bus connections that run at least hourly and flexible, on-demand public transport options. 

However, Wissing said that a lack of skilled labour and low demand on rural routes would make it difficult to offer the kind of bus and train services VDV is calling for. 

“If the bus used to come every three hours and in future it will come every two hours – what kind of improvement would that be? People would stay in their cars,” he said.

READ ALSO: What to know about Deutsche Bahn’s summer service changes

Where does the Deutschlandticket come into this? 

According to the VDV, the €49 monthly travel pass, which has been valid for more than a year on local and regional transport throughout Germany, has an average of 11.2 million subscribers per month.

So far, however, it is primarily a ticket that is used in urban regions, with only 21 percent of Deutschlandticket users coming from rural areas.

According to VDV surveys, around 16 percent of Deutschlandticket users have been travelling by car less often since taking out the subscription.

Nevertheless, the shift has not yet materialised to the extent the government hoped for.

Meanwhile, federal and state transport ministers have been discussing an expansion and modernisation pact for local public transport for some time. The federal states are also calling on the federal government to increase the billions in regionalisation funds, which are used to order services from regional public transport companies.

With reporting by DPA

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