Passengers have been warned they will not be able to claim compensation if they miss part of their holiday when hundreds of workers strike at Gatwick Airport over the Easter weekend.
The UK’s second biggest airport could be hit by major disruption when hundreds of baggage handlers and flight dispatchers working for Red Handling Staff take industrial action, the Unite union announced last week.
Delta, TAP, Air Peace and Norwegian Airlines could be hit by the strike action, with around 50 flights a day expected to be disrupted during one of the busiest periods of the year so far.
Legal experts from aviation specialists SkyRefund have warned that strikes by airport staff are considered to be “extraordinary circumstances,” meaning airlines will not be required to pay customers financial compensation if they face any lengthy delays.
SkyRefund’s CEO Ivaylo Danailov told the Standard passengers will not be able to claim compensation for missing part of their holiday or special occasions.
Mr Danailov said: “Airlines are very likely to find replacement flights for their customers within a day or two, but that may mean people may lose some of their vacation.
“If it’s the airline’s fault, they are obliged by law to provide customers with compensation to reflect the loss of time. But in this case, they will not have to pay out.
“It really sucks if you have an important meeting or something similar… This strike basically knocks out Gatwick entirely. It is quite damaging. It is unfortunately something that does happen quite often. It is one of the painful bits of travelling.”
In many cases, passengers can claim compensation of around £520 (€600) if they arrive at their final destination three hours later than scheduled, with the money often used to cover the costs of missed holiday bookings or connecting flights.
Usually, airline customers can claim compensation if there is an internal issue with the airline itself, such as technical faults, staff not being available or pilots working for too many hours.
But Mr Danailov explained that since the baggage handlers and flight dispatchers are not directly employed by an airline, the strikes are considered to be outside of airlines’ control.
But the legal expert explained that airlines will still have a duty of care to their customers and they will be given the choice of being re-booked onto an alternative flight or accepting a refund for the cost of the flight if there are major delays.
Airlines have to cover customers’ expenses, including their food and accommodation, while they wait to be placed on an alternative flight, Mr Danailov explained.
But in practice, they often fail to provide this assistance during major disruptions because they are overwhelmed by requests and there are not enough available rooms in local hotels.
Mr Danailov said: “In reality, what usually happens is airlines are very slow to reply because they have thousands of passengers trying to reach out and get in touch with their customer services.
“There can be five-hour waiting times. It can be really hard to get hold of the airlines in these situations.
“It’s really important to keep all of your receipts for any expenses you make. If you have all the receipts, you can go back to the airline in a couple of days time and you can claim all the sums owed to you.
“In England, Wales and Northern Ireland you have six years to make a claim, in Scotland it is five years. Even if you don’t make the claim right away you still have time.”
