Simon Calder's travel question of the week: What are your rights when flights are delayed by strikes?
Simon Calder on what passengers can expect as airline staff threaten strike action over autumn
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Your support makes all the difference.An autumn of discontent: that is the prospect facing airline passengers in the next few months. French air-traffic controllers have been going on strike on average every three weeks since the start of the year, while easyJet pilots have voted to strike in a dispute about rosters — which they say could lead to fatigue.
If your flight is affected by a strike, the airline has no obligation to pay compensation, even if the industrial action is being taken by its own staff. It may be that your travel insurance policy pays out for seriously delayed flights, but that is likely to involve perhaps £50 a day — nothing like the sums awarded for delays that are the airline’s responsibility.
But your airline is obliged to provide meals and, if necessary, accommodation until it can to get you to your destination. It must also offer the option for you to travel on a different airline if that is the most expeditious way for you to complete the journey.
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