Due to the prevailing “Corona restrictions”, but possibly already due to the effects of the vaccination, the following industry is now in a downward spiral: Lufthansa has to cancel numerous flights because too many pilots have called in sick. Connections across the North Atlantic to the US are particularly affected during the Christmas vacations, a Lufthansa spokesman said.
“We have planned with a very large buffer. But it is not sufficient for the extremely high sickness rate,” the spokesman admitted. He gave no further details on the background of the many sick calls.
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However, the scale of the pilot fallout already exceeds Lufthansa’s contingency plans. A company spokesman had recently stated that reserves were always present in the background. But apparently not enough: according to an internal circular, Lufthansa is now desperately looking for temporary pilots: they are “no longer able to operate all return flights due to the increased sickness rate.” The Crewdisposition is already working on scenarios to thin out the flight schedule,” the company said.
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According to the report, in addition to sick reports, quarantine obligations imposed by politicians after certain flights also complicate personnel planning.
The Lufthansa pilots who are sick are probably not affected by Corona. For, as reported by the Federal Statistical Office or the Robert Koch Institute, Corona is not responsible for the currently observed significant excess mortality compared to past years. However, it cannot be ruled out that these are already side effects and consequences of the vaccination campaign that has been underway for months. Vaccination is also mandatory for staff at Lufthansa.
Source: Zuerst