Hundreds of flight cancellations and crowds of annoyed passengers are the first results of another warning strike by private security forces at almost all major airports in Germany.

At the Frankfurt hub alone, the companies canceled 108 of 790 planned flights, as the operator Fraport reported.

Nobody could board at Rhein-Main Airport, instead only transfer passengers were handled.

Fraport advised against traveling to the airport.

In Düsseldorf, around 140 connections fell victim to the industrial action.

In the collective bargaining with the Federal Association of Aviation Security Companies, Verdi is calling for the hourly wage to be increased by at least one euro per hour.

Regional adjustments and unified collective bargaining groups could become much more expensive, which, according to employers, would bring up to 40 percent more salary for individual employees.

Employers accuse the union of excessiveness after they have already offered up to 22 percent.

After four rounds of negotiations, both sides want to meet again on Thursday in Raunheim near Frankfurt.

Warning strike "disproportionate"

The industry criticized the walkout, which was carried out without a ballot, more severely than ever.

Verdi had already held all-day warning strikes last week.

With the exception of Bavaria, the checks on freight, passengers and staff are carried out by private service providers who have been commissioned with this sovereign task by the Federal Police.

Although airports and airlines are not part of the conflict, the strike primarily affects air traffic and many thousands of travelers, said the Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry.

"With the disproportionate, nationwide paralysis of air traffic, Verdi is abandoning the basis of a responsible collective bargaining and industrial action policy," said Managing Director Matthias von Randow.

The Frankfurt airport operator Fraport had made a similar statement the day before.

The Federal Association of German Airlines demanded that the state reorganize the security controls.

“The existing organizational structure makes all those involved, the federal government as the client as well as the passengers who cannot board their flight without being checked, open to blackmail.

In the last ten years, this system has meant that the costs for these controls in Germany have doubled," said BDF Managing Director Michael Engel.

Ryanair manager Andreas Gruber called on the government to take immediate action "to end these strikes and the unacceptable disruption to passengers."