According to its own statements, the airline Lufthansa is currently experiencing an unusually high number of sick leave. Since many pilots are sick, long-haul connections have already had to be canceled. It is unclear that many pilots are sick.
The crane group confirmed the fact that the industry portal Aero.de had first reported. An at least purely theoretical connection with the Omikron-Corona variant cannot be commented on, since Lufthansa, as an employer, does not receive such information. As in Austria, employers in Germany only receive a medical confirmation that the employee is currently unable to work, but the diagnosis does not have to be communicated.
Lufthansa will have to restrict long-haul flights from December 23rd to December 26th, 2021. Connections to Washington, Houston, Boston and Tokyo are affected. If possible, passengers should be rebooked on other flights, according to the airline. “We planned with a very large buffer. But that's not enough for the extremely high sickness rate, ”said a crane spokesman.
The Airbus A330 / A340 machine types are particularly hard hit. According to the current state of information, their pilots are above average on sick leave. The consequence of this is that Lufthansa has too few pilots with type ratings available for these types. One writes internally in a present letter: “Now, due to the increased disease rate, we are no longer able to manage all orbits. The crew dispatcher is already working on scenarios to thin out the flight plan ”. Quarantine obligations in various countries also have a negative effect on the tense personnel situation. They are now looking for replacement pilots who can step in temporarily, but this project is not exactly easy, especially during the Christmas season.