Over 100 students attending the City High Music Department trip to Europe are stranded in the Chicago suburbs following a Lufthansa pilot strike.
Before leaving for O’Hare International Airport on Wednesday morning, the group received word that their flight was canceled due to a strike by the Vereinigung Cockpit union. However, they were informed that the tour management company was handling the situation and to proceed as normal. When they arrived at the airport, they learned that most students had not been booked on new flights.
“We sat in the airport for about an hour with no plan, when suddenly [our band director, Mr. Kowbel,] made an announcement that the airline had chosen a group of 23 individuals for a flight to Germany,” Jolie Evans ‘27 said. She was one of the people selected. “We waited and waited, losing hope after [three hours] standing in this line.”
One group of about 50 students and chaperones were able to make their original flight, which landed in Vienna and was not affected by the Lufthansa strike. Another 46 were able to secure later flights. The rest stayed overnight Wednesday in a hotel near O’Hare Airport.
Madeline Fischer ‘27 was rebooked on an alternative flight with a group of 23 other City High travelers, including her five-person chaperone group, but was later separated from that group and put on an earlier flight.
“I got on a plane to another country without my dad or my group. [I had] no idea if they would be randomly drawn to be put on the following flight to Germany,” she said. “I am very grateful that many of my friends ended up being randomly selected for the seven PM flight, because I did not want to take on a new country without anyone I was close to.”
At one point, 120 students were in Chicago, two flights were en route to Germany, and 58 kids had already landed in Vienna. Very few people were able to find a flight with their assigned chaperones.
“I haven’t slept in 36 hours, mostly due to the stress and not really knowing what’s happening. We were waiting for various lost luggage and instruments for three hours in the [Frankfurt] airport,” Amari Castro ‘27, who was booked on an alternative flight and is in Germany, said.
Her group was supposed to board a connecting flight from Frankfurt to Berlin, but it was canceled and they had to take a bus instead.
“[We have been on the bus] for the past nine hours,” she said. “We’ve pretty much been doing nothing except worrying about our friends in Chicago and trying to figure out what’s happening with everything. There’s been so many rumors circulating because no one knows what’s happening.”
111 students still remain at their hotel in the Chicago suburbs. On Thursday morning, they were given two options: either leave O’Hare on a flight Sunday evening or go back to Iowa City and cancel their trip. Students who chose not to go to Germany would receive some money back if they had paid for travel insurance.
“We’re missing most of Germany. We’re going to be missing concerts, a bunch of the cities that we were going to go to, and time with our friends,” Miriam Hachtman ‘26, who chose to stay on the trip, said. “I’m just kind of disappointed. I’m getting serious FOMO.”
But as of Thursday afternoon, students who decided to go to Germany were unsure whether they would stay in Chicago until Sunday or come back to Iowa City until their flight later this weekend.
“We’re just trapped in this hotel,” Hachtman said. “We don’t have a way to get to Germany, and we don’t have a way to get back to Iowa City. We don’t even have a way to get around Chicago.”
An Instagram post reshared by some students and parents expressed frustration towards the tour company managing the trip, Gateway Music Festivals and Tours.
“The company should be equipped to deal with far worse situations,” Susan Newton, a parent of one of the students stuck in Chicago, said. “Families without insurance will lose out on tons of money and kids could lose out on amazing experiences, experiences that could have shaped them in such positive ways as they head out to college.”
The group that was able to travel to Germany will follow the tour schedule as planned, albeit with half the number of students than expected.
“There’s no way we’re going to be able to perform, because we’re missing so many people,” Castro said. “We have half the band, half the orchestra, and no choir.”
This is a developing story. Check back at TheLittleHawk.com for updates.
