Tafflyer

Well, after Spohr personally indicated that he sees strikes as a means to reaching his business aims, he has opened his airline to EU261 claims for compensation. Deliberate use of confrontation to catalyse industrial action can no longer be seen as extraordinary circumstances.

flyertalker00156

Well my situation was a bit complicated however it seemed to work itself out. I booked myself on LH F MUC-YUL however flight was cancelled so am now booked on LX F ZRH - YUL. Saying that I am still opening up an EU261 claim. Not sure how far it will get me. Also had out of pocket hotel last night in Zurich which Lufthansa has not wanted to pay for yet....

Anyone who is on an LH ticket switch to LX quickly the seats are being booked up.

HB-IWC

LH has just started to cancel short and medium haul flights for tomorrow.

ohliuw

My mom's flight YUL to SOF via MUC was cancelled due to the strike. They offered rerouting through bigger airports (such as LHR) and with 2 transfers. We paid EXTRA for the ticket just to go with one stop through a small airport as she is slightly incapacitated and doesn't speak foreign languages. She wouldn't have been able to transfer elsewhere.

She was rebooked for the same flight today. My question is are we entitled for compensation?

Thanks.

dominik208

I was scheduled to fly tomorrow however the flight has been canceled (the European segment), so I was rebooked on a later date... however they rebooked the Euro segment into I, but the First Class segment was rebooked from O to F... I wonder if I'm going to get the miles!

8420PR

Unfortunately that is speculation, not fact.

I think anyone wanting EU261 compensation for a flight cancelled due to the strike would almost certainly have to take Lufthansa to court, with no guarantee of positive results (and depending on the legal system, the possibility of being liable for extensive costs if they lose). I can't find any legal precedent for compensation being paid where the flight was cancelled due to a strike. My guess is if a case were successful it would be appealed all the way to the ECJ and take a few years.

However, hotel, food & telephone costs must be repaid (as per duty of care).

If you are in the UK, Bott&Co are a solicitors that were aggressive in ensuring technical delays were not extraordinary circumstances, including going through different stages of the legal system. My guess they would be a better bet than a standard claim agency (most of which seem to only accept easy (and therefore profitable) cases).

Edited to add: I would personally not even bother applying for compensation, but would be great if someone would be willing to invest the time and money in a legal battle. I think strikes will become more common across all EU legacy carriers (as they continue to try and reduce costs to compete with new LCC carriers), and for all airline employee strikes I think the argument they are extraordinary circumstances is dubious.

8420PR

If you can find better flights, then you could suggest these. The agent at the end of the phone has probably tried to find what they thought were the best alternatives (based on arrival time), but your mums priorities (connections) may be different!

RTW1

You will.... I did last year :-).

travel agent

today is cancelled again

JFSV

My early flight tomorrow from LHR to FRA was also cancelled. I have been moved to another one departing from LCY...fingers crossed!

wco81

OK, I have an award ticket for October 8 on LH490.

Hopefully this thing will be resolved by then but what is LH doing, are they rebooking people?

I redeemed through UA so do I need to contact them or LH?

SAT Lawyer

Are Thursday's flights (September 10) in jeopardy or will this strike be over after Wednesday (September 9)?

Rambuster

I guess strike will be over but there will be quite a few cancellations as crews and aircraft will be out of sync.
In the last 12 (!!) strikes it took 1-2 days until normal ops were resumed.

Forrest Bump

Stuck in BOG. 44 min. at the phone and got rebooked the next day on Avianca to MAD, then double hop on AZ to FCO and NAP.
Still better than the initial offer of 2 days later on LH metal.

Nitehawk

So I had booked myself on a one way AC Aeroplan award ticket.

LH2051 in J today (the 8th), LH476 in F tomorrow (the 9th). 476 was cancelled, according to google now. So I called LH, or tried. I had a lot of trouble getting through until I found the first class number. They rebooked me for the 10th, still on 476, still in F.

I asked for accommodations and they said sorry. At this point it was too late to cancel my MUC hotel room (16:00 hotel time), so I will incur two extra nights of hotels and other expenses.

Will I be able to recoup my out of pocket expenses under EC261?