Ryanair strikes are starting TODAY – here’s what you need to know about the planned walk outs
RYANAIR passengers are set to face travel disruption from today due to a number of planned strikes affecting flights across Europe.
Brits will be hit the hardest, with UK pilots planning to start walk outs from tomorrow.
But there are also a number of other strikes that could cause travel disruption in August and September.
Here’s what you need to know.
Portugal cabin crew strikes
Ryanair’s Portuguese crew are the first to strike.
The dates for the strike are five days from 00:00 August 21 until 23:29 August 25.
Ryanair has said it expects minimal disruption from the walkouts by Portuguese cabin crew trade union SNPVAC.
It said on Tuesday that a small number of flights from its Portuguese bases may be affected by minor schedule changes for five days from August 21 and that all affected customers had already been notified.
The two Belgian unions said cabin crew and pilots stationed in Belgium had been asked to staff some affected flights.
Belgium’s CNE and ACV PULS trade unions have told members not to comply with a Ryanair request to staff flights affected by a planned strike by Portuguese crew from Wednesday, a letter sent to the airline seen by Reuters showed.
They said: “Unfortunately we had to conclude that Ryanair decided to import the conflict that is going on in Portugal to Belgium… We cannot agree with this state of affairs and will therefore call on our members not to staff these flights.”
A spokesman for Portugal’s SNPVAC union said it had received information that flights will be operated by crews from other bases and that this was a “violation of the right to strike.”
British pilot strikes
Ryanair‘s UK strike troubles started last month when the airline’s pilots were balloted over whether or not to strike.
The British Airline Pilots Association (BALPA) said that the strike is a dispute over working conditions.
On August 7, the union confirmed that the pilots will be striking.
Strikes will be held from 00.01am on August 22 until 11.59pm on August 23 and from 00.01am on September 2 until 11.59pm on September 4.
The announcement left many fearing that they might not be able to make wedding and birthday plans.
Ryanair has written to the union to ask them to reconsider amid news that staff at the airline are facing job cuts.
The airline tried to stop the strikes via a court order but the High Court ruled in favour of the pilots’ union BALPA.
The strike dates ahead of the August Bank Holiday Weekend will now go ahead.
Will I get my money back if my flight is cancelled or delayed?
If your flight is cancelled, you have the legal right to either a full refund within seven days or a replacement flight to your destination.
This applies for whatever reason your flight was cancelled or how long before you were told it would no longer be be flying.
If your flight is delayed by three hours or more and you were flying to or from a European airport, or with an EU-based airline such as Ryanair or British Airways then you can claim compensation up to €250 (£229) for short-haul flights and €400 (£367) for mid-haul flights and €600 (£530) for long-haul flights.
But the airline might not payout if it’s out of their control, for example, due to bad weather or strikes.
Irish pilot strikes
Ryanair’s Irish pilots also planned to strike.
On August 9, the Irish pilots’ union confirmed pilots have voted for strike action.
It comes after 94 per cent of directly-employed Ryanair pilots, who are members of the IALPA, voted to back industrial action in a long-running dispute over pay, working conditions and related issues.
The original strike dates were set for August 22 and 23.
However, Ryanair was granted an injunction by the Irish High Court to block the strike.
Spanish pilot and cabin crew strikes
Last week, Ryanair’s Spanish staff announced ten strike dates that will be spread across September.
The strikes are as a result of Ryanair’s announcement that 900 jobs are at risk with several planned base closures.
The dates have been confirmed for September 1, 2, 6, 8, 13, 15, 20, 22, 27 and 28.
Sun Online Travel has contacted Ryanair for comment.