For several weeks now, there has been a questioning mood among airline and ground employees working at Vienna Airport, because some feel disadvantaged when it comes to vaccinations. The reason for this is that the state of Lower Austria allows Austrian Airlines to have its own vaccinations, but other airlines and service providers operating at the airport should only be able to participate “via the airport”.

Neither the AUA nor Vienna Airport have overall responsibility for in-house vaccinations, but the state of Lower Austria. Their health department decides whether a company can benefit from its own vaccination line or not. In the current phase of the national vaccination plan, employees of transport companies who have direct customer contact have access to the vaccines. 

The way in which the subject of vaccinations is dealt with varies greatly among the companies operating at Vienna Airport. For example, while Flughafen Wien AG and many other service providers offer their employees internal service points, individual other companies shouldn't worry about how their employees get their vaccinations and, when asked, refer to the vaccination centers in the provinces of Vienna and Lower Austria. 

Ultimately, the different approaches lead to resentment, because many have the impression that the time of vaccination depends on the employer and his commitment to the employees.

However, the decision by the state of Lower Austria that Austrian Airlines was allowed to set up its own operational vaccinations caused a lack of understanding, while the competitors Wizz Air and Lauda Europe were told that they could have their employees vaccinated “only via the airport”. Indeed: Lauda Europe, for example, had to register those wishing to be vaccinated at the company vaccination route at Vienna Airport and also informed the workforce about this.

The approach taken by the state of Lower Austria means that the AUA flight personnel are said to be vaccinated faster than those of the other airlines operating from Vienna. This leads to resentment, especially among pilots and flight attendants, because are AUA employees more important than those of Wizz Air, for example? Even if Wizz Air and Lauda Europe are foreign airlines, the social security contributions are paid in Austria.

Ultimately, the entire situation is likely to be carried out by a human aspect: jealousy, because a few days after the first vaccination in Austria you get extensive freedom under the 3G rules and no longer have to be tested before going to a restaurant or hairdresser. Whether it is an employee of another company working at the airport or a neighbor, the person who has not yet been turned should always be worried.

It can be assumed that these “questioning thoughts” of many people employed at Vienna Airport who have not yet received their vaccinations will simply vanish in the next few weeks, because Rome was not built in one day and more are coming every day Employees on it.