Some Germanwings crews have not been ready to work today due to “sorrow and emotional distress” following yesterday’s Airbus A320 crash which killed 150 people, the airline confirmed.
“The company is sympathetic to this as in some cases the employees have lost good friends among the crew involved in the accident,” a statement from the budget carrier said.
“Although they would not actually have been on duty, other crew members have reported voluntarily for work in order to support us.”
Other carriers have been brought in to operate certain flights today.
The airline said it had seen a huge amount of solidarity and support from other companies in the industry and tremendous commitment among its own employees.
Accident investigators from the German Federal Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation, safety pilots from Germanwings and Lufthansa, a technician from Lufthansa Technik, a radio expert from Lufthansa Systems are at the scene of the accident close to Barcelonette in the French Alps.
“We are making every possible effort to assist BEA, the French Bureau of Aircraft Accident Investigation, with the investigation,” the airline said.
“Germanwings’ top priority at present is to provide the best possible support for relatives and dependants.
“We are striving to provide the relatives of every single passenger with an appropriately psychologically-trained employee who, for example, also speaks the language of those relatives.
“Our aim is to do everything within our power to provide every single relative with precisely the help he or she requires.
“We will operate two special flights, one to take relatives from Düsseldorf to Marseille and one to take relatives from Barcelona to Marseille.”