European Strikes Affecting Travel

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

Has anyone had travel affected by the recent (and forthcoming) air transportation strikes in Italy, France, or UK?

 

 

Edited June 11, 2023 by 4-2-N-8

[ARandomTraveler]

Not with this recent strike, but I had travel affected by an airline strike in France  last September. The airline (Air France) let us know a couple days in advance that the strike was going to happen, so we changed our travel plans to leave on an earlier flight. 
 

My travel insurance policy paid for the additional hotel night, and reimbursed me for non-refundable tour tickets etc. so it worked out ok, although we did miss a day in Italy because of it.

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

27 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Not with this recent strike, but I had travel affected by an airline strike in France  last September. The airline (Air France) let us know a couple days in advance that the strike was going to happen, so we changed our travel plans to leave on an earlier flight. 
 

My travel insurance policy paid for the additional hotel night, and reimbursed me for non-refundable tour tickets etc. so it worked out ok, although we did miss a day in Italy because of it.

Good to know. Sounds like it all (mostly) worked out.

[CynBeth6]

How often do the strikes happen? We are flying into Spain on United hopefully the end of this month and back home out of Rome the middle of July? We will be on a cruise and visiting some cities in France and Italy and spending some additional time there and will be taking a few trains.

[ARandomTraveler]

 

23 minutes ago, CynBeth6 said:

How often do the strikes happen? We are flying into Spain on United hopefully the end of this month and back home out of Rome the middle of July? We will be on a cruise and visiting some cities in France and Italy and spending some additional time there and will be taking a few trains.

When I was doing research for Italy and France, a lot of things I read (and Rick Steves videos I watched) said to be prepared for a strike on at least one form of transportation while you're there because they happen all the time. I think train strikes happen more than airline strikes. Not sure about Spain, but you should be prepared with a backup plan just in case, especially for Rome, even if your backup plan is just making sure you have travel insurance that covers strikes and will reimburse you for having to buy new airline or train tickets, or extra nights in a hotel while you wait out the strike. 

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

Strikes are so common that Italy has a strike calendar.

 

Post pandemic, strikes have been brutal at Heathrow (London), nationwide in France (due to new retirement age legislation), and Italy for air transport due to six years of stalled contract negotiations and rail transport (seemingly) as a national pastime.

 

I wish cruise lines would point this out. I do my own research and see what is happening. 

Edited June 12, 2023 by 4-2-N-8

[klfrodo]

There are plenty of websites where you can find what strikes are planned and for when. Just have to use Google.

It's not like here in the States where people just walk out with little to no notice. The European unions give notice well in advance.

[gumshoe958]

In the UK there is a long-running series of train strikes which do cause major disruption, but for cruisers there are always alternatives to get to/from Southampton, London or Heathrow so there’s no huge cause for concern. And the law requires unions to give at least two weeks’ notice of a strike so there’s always time to make new plans.

 

There is a separate series of strikes by security personnel at Heathrow. These, up till now, haven’t caused any major problems for travellers as they’ve only affected Terminal 5 (British Airways) and the airport has just moved staff around to cover striking workers.
 

However the next wave of strikes, starting on June 24 and spanning 31 days across the summer, will involve more staff and also affect Terminal 3 (American, Delta, Virgin) so it’s possible there may be more of an impact. How much, we just don’t know. But certainly one to be aware of if you’re due to fly out of Heathrow in June, July or August.

[little britain]

Have flown into LHR T5 on 2 strike days this year … the army were running security… needless to say it all went much more smoothly than usual lol 😆 

[gumshoe958]

39 minutes ago, little britain said:

Have flown into LHR T5 on 2 strike days this year … the army were running security… needless to say it all went much more smoothly than usual lol 😆 

I suspect you mean the army were standing in for Border Force if you were arriving. Completely separate to security, which affects departing passengers.

[CynBeth6]

What are the sites used to get the schedule? If I go on there and see an airport strike might happen the day we fly home but have not heard anything from our airline do we need to do anything? Is it possible things could get resolved or does the strike always happen on a day listed?

[ABC Cruisers]

We had a train strike in Italy back in 2009 when we wanted to visit Florence, talking to people it seemed normal to them to have a strike going on. Looks like not much has changed