A wildcat strike among airline staff does not constitute ”extraordinary circumstances” that relieve the airline from the obligation to pay compensation to affected air passengers.
The European Court of Justice announced this in a ruling on Tuesday, according to a press release.
A wildcat strike in the form of mass sick leave broke out in October 2016 when the German airline TUIfly announced a restructuring of the company.
A large number of TUIfly flights were canceled or delayed by more than three hours.
The definition of extraordinary circumstances is that they fall outside the airline's normal operations and beyond the airline's control.
However, the court held that restructuring is part of the normal operations of companies and that disagreements with staff may arise.
Furthermore, the court considered that wildcat strikes are within TUIfly's control.
It is not possible to distinguish between wildcat strikes and strikes initiated by a union. In that case, compensation to passengers would depend on the varying labor laws in different EU countries.
The court reasoned that there would therefore be no uniform protection for passengers within the EU.
TUIfly mainly offers charter and low-cost flights to the Mediterranean.
Source:Newspaperdirect.se
