Sick days threaten the existence of airberlin

airberlin was forced to cancel more than 100 of today’s planned 750 flights because about 200 of airberlin’s 1,500 pilots have called in sick. airberlin is deeply disappointed by the number of sick days taken at such short notice during the crew briefing immediately before the flight or on the way to the aircraft.

airberlin CEO Thomas Winkelmann said: “airberlin employees have always dealt very professionally with the company’s difficult situation. They deserve great credit for that. But what we’ve seen today with part of the workforce is equivalent to playing with fire. Today has cost us several million euros. We are currently conducting final talks with potential investors. It is essential that operations be stable in order for these negotiations to go well. That is the only way to secure as many jobs as possible.”

Frank Kebekus, the company’s chief representative, said: “Today’s events seriously endanger the entire insolvency proceedings under self-administration. If the situation does not change quickly, we will have to cease operations and thus any restructuring efforts.”

airberlin management is currently working urgently with chief representative Frank Kebekus and trustee Lucas Flöther on negotiating solutions for airberlin. Maintaining as many jobs as possible is a key issue in these negotiations. The deadline for investors’ offers is this Friday. The aim is for the creditor’s committee to make concrete decisions on 21 September.