Strike: What are your rights?
As an airline passenger your rights are established under EU Regulation 261/2004 or The Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. There are all sorts of circumstances that can lead to problems with your flight, strikes are one of them. Air traffic control strikes, baggage handler strikes or airline personnel strikes are all relatively common in European commercial air travel. EUclaim knows your rights when your flight is cancelled or delayed due to a strike.
Am I entitled to compensation when my flight is cancelled or delayed by a strike?
In the UK a strike of third parties is seen as an extraordinary circumstance under The Air Passenger Rights and Air Travel Organisers’ Licensing (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019. Third parties are outside parties of which the airline is not in control, such as Air Traffic Control, baggage handlers or security. This means that you are not entitled to compensation when a UK flight is cancelled or delayed by more than three hours due to a third party strike. If the airline personnel like cabincrew or pilots are on strike, you are entitled to compensation of up to €600 per person.
A strike and your right to care
When your flight is cancelled or delayed because of a strike you are entitled to care, regardless of which party is on strike. This means that the airline must provide you with vouchers for food and drinks after:
- Two hours for flights up to 1500 km
- Three hours for flights between 1500 and 3500 km and
- Four hours for all other flights.
If the airline does not provide you with vouchers, you can purchase food and drinks yourself. Make sure you always your receipts and boarding pass for declaring the costs with the airline.
If the delay or cancellation lasts overnight you are entitled to a hotel stay. If this is not provided you can claim back the costs from the airline. You are always entitled to care during a long flight delay or cancellation even if this was caused by an extraordinary circumstance.
A cancelled flight because of a strike
If your flight is cancelled due to an Air Traffic Control strike or any other third party strike causing problems to the flight schedule, you are not entitled to compensation. You are entitled to compensation if pilots or cabincrew are on strike causing the airline to cancel your flight. You are also entitled to a replacement flight or a refund of your ticket. If you are not offered a replacement flight and you book a new flight yourself, the difference in the price of the ticket must be refunded by the airline.
EUclaim knows your rights in the event of a strike
Are you in doubt about the reason for your delayed or cancelled flight? EUclaim has all the knowledge and experience to advise you on your entitlements when you suffered a long flight delay or cancellation. Our database shows exactly what flights were delayed or cancelled due to a strike or any other extraordinary circumstance. We evaluate more than 13 million flights every day and have access to the extensive Lennoc Flight Intelligence database combining flight data with weather and press related data. Our exclusive database and team of legal experts have assured our 97% success rate in court.
