400 flights canceled

AUA is back to normal operations

Austrian Airlines is back to normal operations following the strike by the cabin crew.(Bild: P. Huber)

Austrian Airlines is back to normal operations following the strike by its cabin crew. A total of 400 flights were canceled on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday, and 50,000 passengers did not reach their destinations as planned.

Vienna Airport was particularly affected. The first flights took off there at around 1 pm on Good Friday. As reported, the Lufthansa subsidiary put the financial damage caused by the 36-hour strike at 15 million euros. 

Although both sides are willing to talk, the fronts between the AUA management and the on-board staff have hardened. The union wants the wage level of the workforce to be adjusted to that of the Lufthansa Group. The company is not complying with this demand.

vida boss: "Our arms remain outstretched"
 "Our arms remain outstretched", said vida boss Roman Hebenstreit on Friday. The union boss was referring to the willingness to talk. It is "permanently communicated that appointments are possible, you just have to say when." However, the Austrian employees must be treated "fairly and equally" within the Lufthansa Group.

If the location becomes uneconomical, the parent company Lufthansa would probably be required to rethink its offer and route system in the long term.

Peter Malanik, Geschäftsführer des Dachverbands der österreichischen Luftfahrtindustrie

According to AUA, talks are already underway at various levels, but no new negotiation date has yet been set. It had previously been said that the wage increases demanded could not be realized. "If the location becomes uneconomical, the parent company Lufthansa would probably have to rethink its offer and its route system in the long term," warned Peter Malanik, Managing Director of the Austrian Aviation Industry Association, on Friday evening.

17 rounds of negotiations without result
Hebenstreit is not ruling out another strike. The workforce is already planning another works meeting for Thursday, April 4, which could lead to further stoppages. The collective bargaining dispute has been dragging on for several weeks and 17 rounds of negotiations have so far failed to produce any results. Hundreds of flights have been canceled since then.