jbminger

According to an article by the Independent about the potential [probable] Aer Lingus strike; the strike may or may not be an extraordinary circumstance and you may indeed be due compensation if your flight is canceled. Have a read.

irishguy28

I would not have much faith in that...he says himself, in answer to the question if a strike is an extra-ordinary circumstance, "that is the six million dollar question". His suggestion that claims made as a result of the strike would be evaluated on a "case by case basis" also seems incorrect. Either the strike is, or isn't, an extraordinary event. Either everyone is covered by EC261/2004, or no-one is. The specifics of each individual traveller/compensation claim will in no way determine whether EC261/2004 applies or not to individual cases.

I am not aware of any case law where a strike by cabin crew caused a cancellation which was later judged in a national court to fall within the scope of the EC261/2004 compensation - if you know of such cases, then please let me know.

Absent that - I would go with my earlier link which shows that strikes are an "extraordinary circumstance". Remember, the regulation is about compensating passengers negatively affected by decisions freely made by the airline themselves - last minute cancellations for arbitrary/spurious reasons; overbooking, etc. In this case, the airline actually wants to transport its passengers, but it simply cannot do so when its employees walk off the job.

jbminger

I don't know of any such cases, where a delay/cancellation caused by cabin crew strike which was later judged within the scope of the EC261/2004 compensation.

However, Ryanair was found responsible for compensating customers who were affected by the 2010 Icelandic volcano ash, which would also seemingly fall under the category of extraordinary circumstance.

From Which, "Ryanair had argued that the ash cloud was so extraordinary that it should be released from its obligation under EU law to look after its passengers. But, in a ruling that applies to all airlines, the court concluded that it does not recognise a special category of ‘particularly unusual circumstances’ that would give airlines a get-out."

It's that last bit about paricularly unusual circumstances that is interesting, does that mean the ECJ no longer recognizes any special circumstances?

CosmosHuman

Just curious, but is November a prime month for strikes/industrial actions?

irishguy28

No. There are no big holidays in November (Thanksgiving doesn't count - Americans go home rather than going to Ireland) and neither is it peak travel season.

If the staff were feeling angsty for a strike in November, they'd probably hold over for December, as they could do much more damage by threatening to disrupt the Christmas travel peak.

irishguy28

This might seem like pedantism, but Ryanair was not forced to pay compensation (which, in the realm of EC261/2004, is limited to a paltry €250 for short flights, or just €400 for the longest flights operated by Ryanair, regardless of the eventual length of the "delay" - see Article 7). They would actually have been very happy if this was all they had to pay - but given the exceptional circumstances, the compensation referred to in Article 7 did not arise for ANY airline as a result of the Eyjafjallojökull eruption.

What Ryanair was forced to observe, however, were the requirements under Right to Care (as set out under Article 9 of the Regulation) and which can actually amount to a far, far greater amount - particularly when the enforced stayover runs to days, or weeks.

The Regulation clearly states that, regardless of the cause of the cancellation (i.e. even under "exceptional circumstances" such as volcano eruption, or strike), all travellers must be provided with meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time, as well as 2 free phone calls/faxes/emails. If the waiting time involves having to wait until another day to travel, then hotel accommodation, and transport to and from the hotel, are also due to the passenger.

The regulation does not consider the provision of a hotel, or the refunding of "reasonable" expenses where the traveller pays for the hotel and later claims it back, as being compensation. This is a basic right of care that the airline must observe, even when the cancellation is not directly of their own making.

Ryanair objected, given the fact that the cost of enforced stays of a week or more were, in some cases, many orders of magnitude greater than the actual fare paid by the passengers in question. They argued that such a long period of housing passengers was unforeseen in the regulation, and was unfair, given that the airline had to pay so much on behalf of passengers who had paid so little, and that the regulation was not intended to cover such long (even necessary) stays. The ruling, however, just confirmed that the wording of the regulation must be applied - meaning that there is no upper limit on the cost/value of the hotel/meals/transport fees that the hotel must pay/refund during any enforced delay.

Anyone who has to stay a night at their own expense as a result of their inability to travel as planned due to the Aer Lingus strike should either ask Aer Lingus at the airport of departure to arrange the hotel for them, or request a refund of reasonable expenses by submitting their hotel receipt after the fact (and again, checking in to the most expensive 5-star hotel you can find will never be deemed reasonable). But what you cannot claim is the €250/€400/€600 compensation for late arrival defined in Article 7 of the regulation.

jbminger

Well said irishguy. I see the difference.


It would appear the strikes are called off (at least at the moment)

http://www.rte.ie/news/2014/0611/622967-aer-lingus/

Father-of-3

How far in advance do they usually schedule their strikes? I'm wondering if a flight on July 4th is fairly safe at this point.

DELLAS

Normally 10-14 days before. At the moment its calmed down again but the Pensions row is another strike threat so its far from back to normal. If they don't sort out the rota row it will also lead to more strikes.