A dispute has broken out at Düsseldorf Airport between the service sector union Verdi and the ground handling company AHS Düsseldorf over the timely payment of wage and time credits.
The union accuses the service provider of failing to pay out outstanding overtime balances to nearly 100 employees on time. According to the union leadership, the delay concerns annual working time accounts that were reset on the cut-off dates at the end of March and the end of April 2026. The resulting financial claims should have been transferred to the employees by the end of April 2026 at the latest. AHS Düsseldorf denies the allegations of systematic discrimination but acknowledges administrative discrepancies and delays related to the transfer of personnel from a previous service provider. The incident highlights the complex human resources challenges and organizational processes within ground handling services at major German airports.
Union allegations and delays in wage payments
According to Verdi union secretary Andrej Bill, the corresponding funds for the affected employees had not yet been credited to their accounts at the beginning of May 2026, meaning the company was in arrears. The union also criticizes the management for not actively informing the workforce in advance about the delays in processing wages. According to the employee representatives, this is not an isolated incident this year. As early as March 2026, some employees in Düsseldorf experienced delayed payments of their regular monthly wages.
The union sees the repeated irregularities as a significant burden for ground handling staff, who work in shifts to ensure the smooth operation of flight operations at the terminals and on the apron. Verdi has advised affected employees to independently and thoroughly check all pay slips and their monthly time account balances. In case of doubt, legal claims should be asserted against the employer within the prescribed time limits to prevent any credit balances from being forfeited due to limitation periods.
Presentation of AHS Düsseldorf and company background
AHS Düsseldorf refuted the allegations on key points and explained the operational reasons for the delays. According to management, the payout of the accrued working time balances was directly related to the transfer of operations and the hiring of former employees of the previous service provider, Acciona. While the allocation of the working time accounts was carried out on the designated dates, the accounting treatment and subsequent payment of the amounts were routinely staggered and carried out in the following month.
In some cases, there were allocation problems in the master data because the previous affiliation with the service provider Acciona was not immediately apparent in the HR systems. These cases were subsequently corrected after manual review and payment was processed. For those employees who had already received regular employment contracts directly with AHS at the end of 2025 or the beginning of 2026, the balancing of their working time accounts had already been properly completed at an earlier date. The company emphasized that the outstanding principal claims have now been settled. Only the calculation and payment of accrued default interest related to the late wage payments is still taking additional processing time in some cases.
Administrative discrepancies in the recording of working hours
Regardless of the deadline issues, AHS Düsseldorf confirmed that isolated discrepancies in the management of working time accounts were discovered during internal audits. These included, among other things, the accuracy of the allocation of vacation and sick days taken, as well as errors in the transfer of overtime hours to the respective annual working time or time-off accounts. To resolve these individual cases, the HR department, in close coordination with central HR services and the local station management at Düsseldorf Airport, has initiated a detailed review.
Management expressly denies any deliberate or intentional discrimination against employees. Nevertheless, according to the company, numerous inquiries from staff have shown that the internal regulations governing the handling of annual working time and leisure time accounts need to be presented in a more transparent and understandable way. To this end, internal project groups have been established to analyze existing processes, identify sources of error in the accounting systems, and develop long-term optimizations to the procedures.
Dialogue with the works council and classification in the market environment
Throughout the entire review and correction process, the company stated that it maintained constant communication with the local works council. In specific individual cases, contact was also sought with the Verdi trade union. Furthermore, the delays in wage payments were disclosed and discussed with the workforce at an extraordinary works meeting.
This incident highlights the organizational complexity of personnel management in the ground handling industry. Changes in service providers at major airports, varying flight schedules, and the use of flexible working time models such as annual working time accounts place high demands on payroll accounting. For airlines and passengers at Düsseldorf Airport, a reliable and satisfied staff structure within the ground handling services is of fundamental importance, as organizational problems at these service providers can directly impact flight punctuality.