Which airports are on strike?
At the airports in Munich, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Dortmund, Hanover and Bremen, the employees of the operating companies have been called on to go on warning strikes. According to the Verdi union, work should be stopped from early Friday morning until Saturday night. It is still unclear how many flights will have to be canceled or postponed, but the impact is expected to be massive.
In the event of a cancellation or rebooking, the airlines usually contact the passengers who left their contact details when booking. Those who remain without notification should check the current status of the booking themselves and constantly check the status of the flight on their airline’s website.
What if the flight is cancelled?
In this case, the passengers according to EU directive 261/2004 two options.
- You can request an alternative flight from the airline. For flights within Germany, you can also rebook on buses and trains. Buying a train ticket without consulting the airline does not make sense: there is no guarantee that all costs will be reimbursed. In addition, those who are stuck at the airport are entitled to care services such as drinks, food and, if necessary, an overnight stay in a hotel. This applies to flights of up to 1500 kilometers with a waiting time of at least two hours. For a distance of 1500 to 3500 kilometers there is support after three hours, from a distance of 3500 kilometers after four hours.
- Or they skip the flight and have the money refunded. Repayment must be made within seven days.
What rights do passengers have if their flight departs late?
Even then, the airline has to look after its waiting customers at the airport. After a waiting time of five hours, passengers can also withdraw from the contract of carriage and request a refund of the flight price. They do not have to accept vouchers. Travel agencies are not allowed to charge any extra fees for the reversal of the ticket purchase.
Do passengers initially have to pay for the care costs themselves?
The EU Directive stipulates that care is provided free of charge. But that often doesn’t work. If the airline does not offer anything despite demand, the passenger can arrange for food and possibly a hotel room himself. It is then important to keep all receipts so that the costs can then be invoiced to the airline. The reason for the delay is irrelevant for the assumption of costs. The airline must always help the passenger, regardless of whether the delay is caused by an ash cloud, a storm or a strike.
Do passengers get additional compensation?
In the event of cancellation, overbooking or a delay of three hours or more, passengers are entitled to compensation of up to 600 euros according to the EU regulation – but only if the trigger can be assigned to the airline’s “risk area”. This can also apply in the event of a strike. The decisive factor here is who stops work. If it is not the employees of the airline, but employees of an external service provider or the airport company, as in the current case, the chances of compensation are poor.
Passengers can check and assert claims, for example, with the help of the Flight annoyance app from the consumer advice center NRWa There is also a sample letter on the website of the European Consumer Center Germany. In the event of a dispute, you can contact the Contact the arbitration board for public transport or commission a service provider such as Flightright, Fairplane, EUclaim or EUflight for a commission
Do passengers have to be at the airport on time despite strikes?
Even if a long delay is foreseeable, passengers should always be at the airport at the original departure time, unless they have been rebooked in advance. Otherwise there is a risk that the airline will be able to offer a replacement flight at short notice – and the traveler will then miss it.
What rights do air travelers have if the feeder flight is canceled due to the strike and the connecting flight is missed?
If the flight is canceled due to the work stoppage, the airline must, according to the EU regulation on air passenger rights, transport the passenger to the destination on a replacement flight, i.e. offer a new connection for the entire route. However, the flights must be part of a jointly booked flight plan.
What regulations apply to package tours?
In the case of package tours, the tour operator is the contact person: he has to ensure that the customer gets airborne, because the flight is part of the contract. The tour operator is also responsible for the costs of meals or accommodation caused by a delay. Travel law expert Paul Degott explains that if the package traveler misses out on vacation days as a result of the strike, the tour operator must reimburse part of the travel price for these days. If the vacation is massively reduced – for example, if the person concerned arrives three days later with a one-week vacation – the chances of compensation are also good: Then the money is not only returned for the days on which the vacation was canceled, but also compensation for the fact that the holiday as a whole was impaired.
What is the legal situation if the start of a cruise is missed due to a delayed departure?
If the flight and cruise were booked as a package, the organizer is obliged to bring the guest onto the ship, so it must take care of alternative flights or ensure that the guest can board at another port. Those who have organized their journey individually are entitled to all services under the Air Passenger Rights Ordinance, for example to rebooking on a new flight. You have to take care of everything else yourself – and pay for it.