It’s summer in Europe, which means regular gelato stops in the city, sparkling turquoise ocean swims, cocktails on the beach and everyone’s favourite… airline strikes.
We all know the wave of dread that washes over us just after finding out a client’s flight has been delayed or cancelled and if you have passengers travelling in Europe over the next couple of months, this could be a likely story.
According to news sources, staff from Ryanair, British Airways, Iberia, and possibly more, are striking or planning to strike in the next coming weeks.
So before departing for the airport, AirHelp strongly advises that all air passengers should know their rights under a strike scenario.
Here are some tips for you to share with your customers, so we can all survive these inconveniences and you won’t have ten missed calls at 3am from an upset client stuck at the airport in Paris!
1. Do not act before airlines act
When airline staff decide to go on strike, it is seldom that the airline authorities will cancel the flight right away. More often, the airline will still try to get the flights operating. This causes confusion and many travellers do not know whether to reschedule their itinerary or not.
If an airline does not cancel the flight 14 days before the originally scheduled departure, it is still very likely that the airline is going strong with negotiations and might not cancel the flight at the very last minute.
In such a case, passengers or agents should not cancel the original flight before the airline confirms the flight cancellation, because airlines can otherwise refuse to pay for the refund and leave passengers paying two tickets in the end.
2. Stay calm and know your rights
Not having the security to plan ahead could put some added stress on the trip, so that is why the European Flight Compensation Regulation (EC261) has a comprehensive scheme to compensate any losses.
The first thing travellers need to know about is their rights to care, with which they can claim for meals, refreshments, and two free phone calls, emails, or fax.
When travellers arrive at the airport waiting for the announcement of the strike-incited cancellations, they can demand the airline to provide those cares, when a delay reaches two hours for a flight of the distance under 1500km, three hours for a flight between 1500 and 3500km, or four hours for a flight beyond 3500km.
Once the airline confirms the flight cancellation, passengers can contact their travel agent and choose from three actions: refund, rebooking to the next available flight, or to a later suitable flight.
If the newly scheduled flight requires passengers to stay overnight at the airport, the airline should provide accommodation and transportation to and forth free of charge.
3. Get your rightful compensation for your losses
Most importantly, after all these hassles, your passengers may be entitled to up to 600 euro in compensation. Even if the airline cancels the flight and refunds the ticket, or provides a replacement flight to the original destination.
As long as it is a last-minute cancellation or a flight delay for more than three hours, you can claim on your passengers behalf, added on top of other things that airlines provide.
AirHelp can assist travel industry partners to get compensation from airlines for their travellers during flight disruptions and earn a commission.
Surviving a flight strike is just that easy!
Travel agents cannot prevent disruption – but they can be cool, calm and knowledgable when it happens.