On Friday, the works council of the security subsidiary of Flughafen Wien AG, Vias, held staggered works meetings. At the last moment, the management was able to prevent the passengers from having a significant impact. An offer for one-off payments was submitted.

The employee representatives then split the meeting into three staggered dates so that there were no restrictions for the passengers. At Vienna Airport, Vias employees are primarily responsible for conducting security checks and for PRM services such as assisting wheelchair users.

Background to the works meeting: The personnel situation is extremely tense. According to the employee representatives, around 300 employees are currently missing. The workforce is currently compensating for this with the help of voluntary overtime. These are paid out by the employer, so that the employees at least do not have to work for "time off". The security staff are also satisfied with the payment of the overtime, because they have more wages at the end of the month.

However, that doesn't solve the fundamental problem: Vias employees' salaries are not exactly at the level of top earners, so that the most recent price increases sometimes have serious effects. One of those affected told Aviation.Direct that one could no longer afford to live, because in the course of the short-time work-related loss of income, many previous reserves were literally "eaten up".

The group management of Flughafen Wien AG now showed understanding for the complicated financial situation and sent the works council a much improved offer for a timely one-off payment on the evening before the works meetings. As a result, the employee representatives decided to hold the meeting in such a way that there were as few restrictions as possible for the passengers, i.e. instead of one appointment as originally planned, there were three staggered ones. "A huge disruption in flight operations was prevented at the last moment because one was originally planned and it was split up," says a Vias employee.

Negotiations should bring better wages in the long term

It is also clear that the one-time payment is only a kind of short-term help. The works council and the responsible trade union Vida want to achieve long-term solutions. The employer is willing and they now sit down at the negotiating table. The common goal is: By the end of the year at the latest, a solution should be found that will lead to better pay for the security staff.

Daniel Liebhart, department head at Vida: "There is a lot of room for improvement when it comes to salaries, but we also see that the management has recognized the problem and are confident that we will find a good solution here".

However, the lack of staff at the security subsidiary of Flughafen Wien AG is not an isolated case at the location. As mentioned at the beginning, Vias alone lacks around 300 security staff. In the field of ground handling, the service providers working at Austria's largest airport have around 600 employees too few. Here, too, the workforce is currently standing together and compensating for the lack of staff with overtime.

If you look at the airlines that have aircraft stationed in Vienna, the picture is similar: At Wizz Air, Austrian Airlines, Lauda Europe, Malta Air and Buzz, the number of flight attendants is extremely tight. There are still no acute bottlenecks that lead to the cancellation of flights on a large scale, but the providers are not yet flying the full summer program either. According to reports, Austrian Airlines alone has about 150 flight attendants too few. In the case of pilots, on the other hand, the number of employees is generally stable, which is also due to the fact that it is much more difficult for them to reorient themselves in other sectors.

Liebhart: "It's prepared for a big summer chaos"

The root cause of the current shortage of staff is simple: since the beginning of the corona pandemic, wages have been cut or, if registered, short-time work has been paid significantly less per month. Especially in areas where the salaries are not top wages anyway, this threatened the existence of those affected. Many have therefore turned their backs on aviation and reoriented themselves. Although there are enormous numbers of vacancies, very few apply for aviation jobs.

The Vida trade union and the works councils of the companies operating at Vienna Airport are skeptical that the main travel season - summer 2022 - can be managed without major chaos. Once airlines ramp up their vacation programs, staffing shortages could become drastic, leading to long waits, delays and cancellations. In an interview with Aviation.Direct, Daniel Liebhart from Vida added that the staffing level at Austro Control air traffic control is also extremely tight and that there is also a factor lurking here that could lead to delays. In his opinion, summer chaos is to be expected due to the acute lack of staff at almost all levels that are visible and working in the background for the passengers. "Everything is prepared for it," said Daniel Liebhart, who hopes in the interests of the air travelers that things will turn out differently.