Airline Strike Compensation: When You're Owed and When You're Not

Your airline's own staff struck? You're likely owed

If the people who struck work for your airline, such as its pilots or cabin crew, the airline generally still owes you compensation. This is settled law. In 2021 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled in Airhelp v SAS (case C-28/20) that a strike by an airline's own staff, even one organised by the unions over pay and conditions, is NOT an extraordinary circumstance. The court's reasoning was that managing staff and labour relations is a normal part of running an airline, so a strike by its own workforce is part of the airline's ordinary control.

An even messier situation is also covered. In the Krüsemann case (C-195/17), a wave of staff calling in sick at short notice, a so-called wildcat strike or sickout after a surprise restructuring announcement, was also ruled NOT extraordinary. So a wildcat sickout by the airline's own people does not get the airline off the hook either.

The practical result: if your flight was cancelled or delayed 3 or more hours because your airline's own pilots or crew struck, you can claim 250 to 600 euros per passenger by distance. Many airlines wrongly reject these claims anyway, betting you will give up. Do not.

ATC or airport strike? Usually no compensation

The opposite is true for strikes by people who do NOT work for your airline. Air-traffic-control (ATC) strikes are the big one. When controllers in France, Italy, Greece or elsewhere walk out, they shut down huge chunks of airspace, and the airline has no power over them. That makes an ATC strike an extraordinary circumstance, so no compensation is due.

The same logic applies to strikes by airport staff who are not employed by your airline, such as airport security screeners, third-party ground-handling firms, baggage handlers, or fuel-truck operators contracted by the airport rather than the airline. Because these are outside the airline's control, a delay or cancellation caused by them is normally extraordinary and pays nothing.

The key word is third party. If a service is run directly by your own airline's staff, the Airhelp v SAS logic can pull it back into the airline's control. But for genuinely independent ATC and airport-wide strikes, expect no fixed payout, even though, as we explain below, you keep your right to care.

You still have the right to care during any strike

This matters even when no compensation is owed. Article 9 of EU261 gives you a right to care that applies during ANY long delay or cancellation, including ATC and airport strikes that are extraordinary. The airline cannot wash its hands of you just because the cause was outside its control.

Right to care means the airline must look after you while you wait. Keep every receipt, because if the airline fails to provide these things you can claim the reasonable cost back afterward.

• Meals and drinks in reasonable proportion to the wait.
• A hotel room if you have to stay overnight, plus transport to and from it.
• Two free phone calls, emails, or messages so you can tell people where you are.

Refund or rerouting: your right no matter who struck

Separate from compensation and from care, you always have the choice between a refund and rerouting when a strike cancels your flight or causes a long delay. This right does not depend on who struck. It applies to ATC strikes and your own airline's strikes alike.

You can choose a full refund of the unused part of your ticket, usually within 7 days, plus a flight back to your starting point if you are stranded mid-journey. Or you can ask to be rerouted to your destination at the earliest opportunity, including on another airline if yours has no quick option. Airlines sometimes only offer their own next available flight days later. You can push for an earlier reroute on a different carrier.

How to find out who actually struck

Since everything turns on who struck, pin this down early. Airlines often send a vague message blaming industrial action without saying whose. Do not let them stay vague, because that vagueness is usually deliberate.

Check several sources and save what you find, because news reports and notices can vanish later.

• Read the airline's cancellation message closely and ask in writing for the specific cause and which workforce struck.
• Search news from the strike date for the airline's name, ATC, or the airport, to see who the unions actually were.
• Check whether it was a national ATC walkout (often France, Italy, Greece) versus your specific airline's pilots or crew.
• Note the airport and country, since airport-wide strikes hit every airline while an airline strike only hits one.

Evidence and how to claim

Build your file the same way as any delay claim, with one extra focus on proving who struck. Then write to the airline directly. This is free, and it forces the airline to commit to a reason in writing, which is useful if you escalate.

Quote the law in your claim. For an own-staff strike, cite EU261 and the Airhelp v SAS ruling (C-28/20) directly, and state your amount by distance: 250 euros up to 1,500 km, 400 euros for 1,500 to 3,500 km and longer intra-EU flights, and 600 euros for long-haul over 3,500 km. If they reject you, escalate to the national enforcement body or small-claims court. Our extraordinary-circumstances guide covers the full legal test.

When a claim service is worth it

Claiming directly is always free and works well for clear cases. But strike claims are where airlines stonewall hardest. They routinely reject own-staff strike claims by wrongly calling them extraordinary, hoping you will not know about Airhelp v SAS or will not have the energy to fight a refusal.

If your airline rejects a valid own-staff strike claim, ignores your letters, or buries you in jargon, that is exactly when a no-win-no-fee claim service earns its cut. These services keep roughly 25 to 35 percent of the payout but take on the legal fight and risk. For a genuine ATC or airport strike, though, a service usually cannot win money that the law does not owe, so do not pay anyone to chase an extraordinary-circumstance case.