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Yet another labor action is going to impact European flights. An Air France strike is set to ground an unknown number of Air France flights on May 7 and 8. And now Italy’s Air Traffic Control union is also calling for a strike on May 8.
The Italian labor action, which is actually a combination of two national strikes and a series of strikes by local unions, is expected to affect travel in much of the country from 10am through 6pm local time. Italian regulations require that “essential services” be maintained during a strike — as a result, overflights and international arrivals will be exempt.
An airline lobbying group, Airlines For Europe, said in a statement that “Since 2010, ATC unions have caused more than 200 days of disruption resulting in cancellations and delays for millions of holiday makers across Europe.” The group has a Keep Europe Skies Open petition for travelers to “call on the European Commission, the European Parliament and Member States to protect Europe from repeated extortion and disruption by Air Traffic Control unions.”
Unfortunately for impacted travelers, there’s not much protection against air traffic control strikes — EU261 regulations don’t provide compensation for cancellations or delays due to strikes initiated by a union. So far, only a couple of airlines are giving customers rebooking options to avoid the potential mess:
American Airlines
- Travel date: May 8
- Airports covered: Milan Linate, Italy (LIN); Milan Malpensa, Italy (MXP); Rome, Italy (FCO); Venice, Italy (VCE)
- Must have purchased your ticket by May 3
- Rebook travel anytime between May 5-11
- Must be traveling on an American Airlines or British Airways flight
- You can’t change your origin or destination city. Must rebook in same cabin or pay the difference.
- Avoid the phone queue. Changes available on both AA’s website and in the AA app.
British Airways
- Travel date: May 8
- Airports covered: “any Italian airport”
- Rebook travel anytime between May 5-11
- “We will be using larger aircraft, where possible, to help affected customers and are doing all we can to reduce the levels of disruption.”
EasyJet
No waivers released (yet) by: Air France, Air Italy, Alitalia, Delta, KLM, Lufthansa or United.
Source: thepointsguy.com