SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

TRAVEL NEWS

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.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

TRAVEL NEWS

What’s the environmental fee Lufthansa, Austrian and Swiss airlines will charge you?

German airline group Lufthansa, which includes national flyers Austrian and Swiss airlines have said it will add an environmental charge to passenger fares in Europe to cover the cost of increasing EU climate regulations.

What's the environmental fee Lufthansa, Austrian and Swiss airlines will charge you?

How much will the cost be?

The extra cost will be added to all flights sold and operated by the group departing from EU countries as well as Britain, Norway and Switzerland, the group said in a statement.

It will apply to flights from January next year and, depending on the route and fare, will vary from €1 to €72.

What’s the justification for the cost?

“The airline group will not be able to bear the successively increasing additional costs resulting from regulatory requirements in the coming years on its own,” said Lufthansa.

The group — whose airlines include Lufthansa, Eurowings, Austrian, Swiss and Brussels Airlines — said it is facing extra costs from EU regulations related to sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).

The aviation sector is among the toughest to decarbonise and SAF — a biofuel that produces lower carbon emissions than traditional jet fuel  — is seen as a crucial ingredient to hitting emissions targets but is currently more expensive to produce.

In March, Airlines for Europe, which represents the continent’s largest airline groups including Lufthansa, complained that production of the fuel in Europe is minimal and lags far behind projects launched in the United States.

Lufthansa said it also faces extra costs from changes to the EU’s emissions trading system, and other regulatory measures.

The group aims to halve its net carbon emissions by 2030 compared to 2019, and to go carbon neutral by 2050.

What is the EU legislation?

The EU legislation requires airlines to gradually increase use of the fuel on routes departing EU airports.

Carriers will need to include two percent of SAF in their fuel mix from next year, rising to six percent in 2030 and then soaring to 70 percent from 2050.

What’s the sate of Lufthansa group’s finances?

After having to be bailed out by the German government during the coronavirus pandemic, Lufthansa racked up healthy profits in 2022 and 2023 as travel demand roared back.

But it was hard hit by a series of strikes at the start of this year, reporting a hefty first-quarter loss.

SHOW COMMENTS