The Vida union and the Bord works council are once again inviting the flying staff of Austrian Airlines to company meetings on Thursday, March 14, 2024. The airline concerned assumes that at least 110 flights will have to be canceled. People are also complaining again.

Last week the employee representatives wanted hold a staff meeting on Friday. Austrian Airlines is against this applied for the issuance of an interim injunction to the responsible regional court in Korneuburg. However, a court decision was then not necessary because the works council and union had to cancel the works meeting for another reason: it could be held on the premises of Vienna Airport didn't get suitable premises.

Nevertheless, many AUA flights were canceled on Friday, March 8, 2024, because the company had already canceled many connections in advance and, according to its own information, rebooked the affected passengers to alternatives. The works meeting ultimately did not take place and will now be rescheduled for Thursday, March 14, 2024.

Last week, Austrian Airlines and the Chamber of Commerce heavily criticized the fact that two company meetings were invited within just one week. WKO specialist group chairman Günther Ofner, full-time board member of Flughafen Wien AG, raised the issue serious allegations against the employee representatives. Among other things, he assumed that it was more about disrupting flight operations and less about providing information to employees.

The Lufthansa Group has been on a collision course with unions for many years. For example, in Germany there are regular strikes and in Belgium the situation is hardly better. There are also repeated attempts to have the work stoppages banned by the courts. With a single exception, where a pilots' strike was stopped by the courts for formal reasons, it was always dismissed in court. Austrian Airlines also wants to take legal action against the works meeting, which is scheduled to take place on March 14, 2024. It is still completely open whether the Korneuburg Regional Court will issue an interim injunction or not.

Things have been simmering between management and employee representatives at Austrian Airlines for a long time. Higher salaries are required for flying personnel. Thanks to sometimes exorbitantly increased ticket prices and simultaneous monetization of services that were previously included, Austrian Airlines was able to do so last year fly back into the profit zone.