Strikes, airport staff stops. Canceled and guaranteed flights

MILAN – Strike day in the Italian aviation sector: between 10 and 18 today, Saturday 15 July, the airport ground staff, the so-called handling. These are the people in charge of the operations that precede and follow the flight: check-in, reception and sorting of baggage, boarding. They complain about that their contract has now expired for six yearsand the agitation was called by Filt-Cgil, Fit-Cisl, Uiltrasporti and Ugl.

After the stop to trains on Thursday 13, what was halved by Minister Salvini with great polemical aftermath with the unions, today it is also the turn of pilots and assistants of Vueling and, from 12 to 16, of Malta Air, which operates Ryanair routes. The mix of unrest puts around 1,000 flights, both domestic and international, at risk, with an estimated impact on 250-270 thousand travellers.

Intercontinental and territorial continuity flights will be insured.

The articulation of strikes

– Airport handling company employees – 8 hours – from 10:00 to 18:00;

– Workers of airport handling services companies – 8 hours – from 10:00 to 18:00;

– Aviation, airport and related airport workers – 8 hours – from 10:00 to 18:00;

– Employees of air transport and associated companies – 8 hours – from 10:00 to 18:00;

– Vueling SA flight crew – 8 hours – from 10:00 to 18:00;

– Technical crew of Malta Air airline – 4 hours – from 12.00 to 16.00

Flights canceled and guaranteed

Ita Airways has already made it known that it has canceled 133 flights (here the list), ensuring however that some of the passengers will be able to leave during the day by rebooking on the first available flights.

Ryanair informs “that cancellations and possible delays are foreseen for flights to and from Italy” and that the passengers involved “were notified of the various options via Email, SMS and with a notification on the app”, inviting them to check the status anyway of your flight. Vueling also notifies passengers and invites them to check the status of the route.

The guaranteed flights are listed on the ENAC website, the National Authority for Civil Aviation.

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Passenger rights, there is no compensation but refund or other flight

In the meantime Codacons has drawn up a practical guide with all the rights of passengers in the event of a strike in the air transport sector:

• The Community Regulation n. 261/2004 provides for the right to assistance to all passengers in the event of a strike, both for flight delays and for possible cancellations.
• The airline is obliged to provide passengers with meals and drinks, hotel accommodation, transfer from the airport to the hotel.
• If the flight is cancelled, the passenger has the right to choose between reimbursement of the ticket price, boarding on an alternative flight as soon as possible in relation to the airline’s schedule; boarding an alternative flight at a later date more convenient for the passenger.
• In the event of extra expenses for unforeseen journeys (for example to reach an airport other than the one initially scheduled) the airline is required to reimburse you.
• Based on the rulings of the European courts, if the strike is called by the airline staff, the passenger is entitled to compensation of between 250 and 600 euros depending on the route, in case of flight cancellation or delay of more than 3 hours .
• You are not entitled to compensation in the event of a strike by airport security personnel, strikes by baggage handlers, strikes by air traffic controllers, strikes caused by political instability.
• Refunds and compensations can be requested directly through the channels made available by the airlines (links, apps, sites, chats, call centres, etc.).

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