Lufthansa cancels flights as pilots call in sick

Frankfurt (dpa) – German airline Lufthansa has had to cancel several intercontinental flights during the Christmas period because a number of its pilots are off sick, a company spokesperson said on Thursday.

Particularly affected are services flying to Boston, Houston and Washington through December 26, with only a few volunteers able to jump in and take over routes. The representative said those flights could, at least, be more easily rebooked. There were also flights to Japan that had to be cancelled.

The company planned “a very large buffer. But that is not sufficient considering the extremely high sickness rate,” he added.

The spokesperson would not be drawn on whether the high sickness rate was linked to the coronavirus outbreak, which is currently being driven by the new Omicron variant. He said he was not aware of the nature of the illness among pilots.

Many of the absences are hitting crews for long-distance flights on Airbus A330s and A340s through early January.

Aero.de, a website focusing on German aviation, posted excerpts from a letter circulated by Lufthansa officials warning that the shortages could be severe.

“We don’t see ourselves in the position to staff all routes because of increased sickness rates. Crew planners are working on scenarios that involve thinning out flight plans.”

The airline’s problems don’t end with staff calling in sick. Several crew members have also had to go into quarantine due to the pandemic, further complicating flight planning.

The wave of sick calls comes amid talks between Cockpit, a pilots’ union, and Lufthansa about corporate reorganizations that might cut certain high-paid piloting jobs. There is the possibility of strikes in the summer.

The cancellations have also called into question Lufthansa’s promises to come up with emergency plans amid the coronavirus crisis. It had promised to keep reserve crew on hand and to introduce more flexibility into planning.

This Christmas travel season is shaping up to be a strong one for carriers operating in Europe. Some are reporting double-digit growth in flights offered, including Easyjet, which is operating 41 per cent more flights than two weeks ago, and Wizz Air, which has 75 per cent more flights this week than a week ago, according to data from flight safety organization Eurocontrol.

Ryanair, SAS and Wizz are also offering more connections than they did for the same time period in 2019, before the pandemic had hit Europe. Meanwhile, Lufthansa is down 21 per cent relative to 2019, though it recently managed a 1-per-cent improvement compared to two weeks prior.