Cancelled flights: staff shortage also affects Luxair

Like Lufthansa, which has cancelled 900 flights for the summer due to staff shortages, Luxembourg's Luxair also had to cancel several flights in April and May. But passengers are entitled to a refund.

When contacted, Lufthansa gave "no details of the routes concerned". The German company said only that the cancellations concerned "domestic and intra-European flights for July" in its Frankfurt and Munich hubs, scheduled on Fridays and weekends, and corresponding to 5% of capacity. Passengers will be "immediately informed in the event of cancellation and reassigned to other Lufthansa and Eurowings flights”--the Lufthansa subsidiary has also announced around 100 cancelled flights.

Meanwhile Ryanair "plans to operate all scheduled flights to and from Luxembourg in June, subject only to the risk of delays from ATC (Air Traffic Control) or airport management". And for July-August, "we currently have no cancellations planned".

Another Lufthansa subsidiary, Swiss, indicated at the beginning of the week that it was making dozens of cancellations. In Luxembourg, this corresponds to a "reduction of flights between Zurich and Luxembourg from 15 to 14 per week in July and August", it explained to Paperjam.

For the moment, no cancellations for the summer at Luxair

Lufthansa points to a shortage of personnel that affects the entire European airline industry. This is confirmed by , CEO of Luxair: "We have already experienced this phenomenon, which led us to cancel just under 10 flights between 8 and 12 April. The same happened in May, with "one or two" cancelled flights for the Luxembourg company. "In general, it's tense, but we are managing," Feith says. He does not foresee any cancellations for the summer. "We are looking at it, but so far, so good."

A report on Franceinfo in May explained that airlines and airports that had cut their staff because of the pandemic are now finding it difficult to find suitable new employees.

At Luxair, which has benefited from state aid to avoid redundancies, the situation is due to "extraordinary absenteeism”, which is at close to double the rate seen in 2019, and not only because of covid. To cope with this, the company is recruiting. "We are looking for about 15 crew members, as well as some pilots.”

Compensation under certain conditions

Regardless of the airline, in the event of cancellation, "the consumer is entitled to a refund of his or her ticket", says , director of the European Consumer Centre Luxembourg (ECC). "The company can offer passengers another flight, but it is up to the passenger to decide.”

If the cancellation is announced more than 15 days in advance, the passenger is not entitled to any compensation to reimburse his hotel, for example. But if the cancellation is announced less than 15 days in advance, "my legal opinion is that the passenger is entitled to compensation". A European regulation provides for compensation of between €250 and €600, depending on the distance of the flight. Except in exceptional circumstances. For Karin Basenach, the lack of personnel is not an exceptional circumstance, but "in the end, it will be up to the judge to decide" in the event of a lawsuit. She remembers winning a case against Lufthansa, which rejected her claim for compensation after a cancellation due to a pilot strike.

In the case of package tours, the consumer is also entitled to "a full refund of the price paid because an essential element of the contract is changed". The rules for compensation are the same as for a scheduled flight.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.