Ryanair strikes: Everything you need to know about Spanish cabin crew walkouts in January

Thousands of Ryanair passengers’ flights will be disrupted when three planned Spanish cabin crew strike days go ahead next week.

Here’s everything travellers need to know.

Unions USO and Sitcpla, which represent Ryanair staff in Spain, have called for walkouts on 8, 10 and 13 January after failing to reach an agreement with the budget carrier.

The strike applies to all cabin crew across Spain, according to the unions. Spain’s Ministry of Public Works has agreed to a minimum operation of: 100 per cent of domestic flights, 35 per cent of flights to and from mainland Spain with a flight time of less than five hours and 57 per cent of routes to and from mainland Spain with a flight time of five hours or more during the strike.

However, Ryanair said in a statement: “Due to the efforts of the Spanish Government minimum services regulator, and the support of our pilots and cabin crew in Spain, we expect to operate a full schedule of flights to/from (and within) Spain on Tues 8 January. All passengers scheduled to fly should check in online as normal and arrive at their departure airport at least 2 hours prior to their time of scheduled departure.”

It remains unclear whether the same applies to 10 and 13 January.

The strikes are “definitely going ahead,” a Sitcpla representative confirmed to The Independent.

On 28 December, the unions gave the airline 10 days to avoid industrial action.

A union spokesperson said: “There is a period of 10 days for the management of Ryanair to reconsider and follow, once and for all, the legality in Spain.”

So far, no agreement has been reached.

If your flight is cancelled as part of the strikes, Ryanair will likely offer you three options: simply cancel the flight and receive a full refund; move your flight booking, free of charge, to a different Ryanair flight on the same day or an alternative date of travel before or after your scheduled departure date; or reroute by departing/arriving from another airport on a service operated by Ryanair or, if a suitable Ryanair flight is unavailable, an alternative airline, train, bus, or car hire company.

Passengers who reroute via an alternative airport are entitled to a refund of the reasonable cost of transferring to that airport. Any additional expenses incurred – accommodation, meals or refreshments – should also be refunded by the airline. Just remember to keep all your receipts.

If earlier Ryanair strikes are anything to go by, probably not. In general, passengers can claim compensation if their flight is delayed for more than three hours, or is cancelled or they are denied boarding, under a piece of European regulation known as EC261/2004.

But the carrier claimed previous industrial action constituted “extraordinary circumstances”, which means passengers aren’t entitled to any compensation. The airline still has a duty of care for passengers until they can be transported to their planned destination, including covering the cost of food, drink and accommodation while waiting for a replacement flight.

However, the aviation watchdog said before Christmas that Ryanair will face “enforcement action” over its refusal to pay compensation to passengers disrupted by strike action.

Thousands of passenger journeys were disrupted over the summer when their flights were cancelled following walkouts by Ryanair pilots and cabin crew across Europe.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) says these passengers are entitled to compensation under EU law.

Unions are demanding better working conditions for staff. In an earlier statement, they accused Europe’s biggest airline of “absurd and childish behaviour” for not coming to an agreement.

The row focuses on Ryanair’s practice of not employing staff on local labour contracts.

In a statement, Jairo Gonzalo of USO called Ryanair’s refusal to accept Spanish law “disgusting”.

Sitcpla and USO claim that Spain is the only country that is flagrantly violating labour legislation “with the consent of the Ministry of Labour”.

Ryanair has already signed various labour agreements with unions across Europe.

On 31 January, Spanish law will be applicable to Ryanair pilots but not cabin crew, according to Sitcpla.

The Independent has contacted Ryanair for a response.