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Strikes and flight compensation: whose strike matters

Whether a strike excuses the airline depends on who is on strike.

Updated

Strikes that usually excuse the airline

  • Strikes by air traffic controllers.
  • Strikes by airport staff, for example security or ground handling employed by the airport.
  • UK261 lists external strikes such as air traffic control, airport staff and border force.

Strikes that usually do not

A strike by the airline’s own staff over pay or conditions is not accepted as extraordinary under EU261, including wildcat strikes. That is on the list: "strike by the airline's own staff over pay or conditions, including wildcat strikes".

What to do

  1. Ask what caused the strike disruption and whose strike it was.
  2. Write down the answer and the time.
  3. Make the claim and let the airline show why it is excused.

Read extraordinary circumstances for the test, and the claim guide for the steps. Strike dates change, so this page does not list individual strikes.

Check your flight

Where the trip started. For one booking with connections, the first airport.

Where the trip ended: the final destination.

The operating airline, not the one on the ticket. A boarding pass or the flight status page names it.

What happened

At the final destination, when the aircraft door opened.

We read this to explain the result. We never decide whether it counts as extraordinary.

Carried into the claim letter. It does not change the amount.

Results

Enter both airports and the airline to see a result.

Loading the airport list

Choose where the trip started, where it ended, the airline and what happened. The result updates as you type.

Information, not advice

Hours Late is not a law firm and not a claims company. It does not file claims for you. The results are estimates from published rules and the details you enter. They are not legal advice. Airlines and courts decide each case.

Sources