EasyJet passengers travelling between Germany, Portugal and France could face disruption during the autumn holidays and Christmas period as cabin crew and pilots threaten strike action.
Travellers flying with EasyJet from Germany in the coming weeks may want to keep a close eye on their bookings, as separate labour disputes in Portugal and France threaten to disrupt flights during some of the busiest travel periods of the year.
It remains unclear exactly how many flights will be affected, but strike notices announced by Portuguese cabin crew and French pilots have raised the prospect of cancellations, delays and rebookings for passengers heading abroad during the autumn school holidays and the Christmas travel season.
Portugal strikes could hit holiday travel
The biggest immediate disruption could come from Portugal, where EasyJet cabin crew have announced two strike periods: October 2nd-6th and December 19th-23rd.
The first strike coincides with the start of the autumn school holidays in the German states of Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland, while the second falls just days before Christmas.
According to Portuguese union SNPVAC, around 500 EasyJet flights could be affected during the October walkout alone. The exact number of cancellations remains unclear because Portuguese law requires a minimum level of service during strikes.
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For travellers departing from Germany, the impact is likely to be most noticeable on routes linking Berlin Brandenburg Airport with Porto and Funchal on the Portuguese island of Madeira.
An EasyJet spokesperson told BILD newspaper that the airline could not yet provide reliable information on the impact on individual flights but said affected passengers would be contacted directly if their travel plans changed.
French pilot strike postponed twice
A separate dispute involving EasyJet pilots in France has created additional uncertainty for travellers.
Pilots represented by the SNPL union are currently scheduled to strike on October 1st and 2nd. But these dates have already been postponed twice as negotiations continue between the union and airline management.
The action was initially planned for September 13th and 14th before being pushed back to September 24th and 25th. The union later postponed the walkout again to give talks more time to succeed.
If the strike goes ahead, flights to and from EasyJet’s French bases, including Paris Charles de Gaulle, Paris Orly, Lyon, Nice, Nantes, Bordeaux and Toulouse, could face disruption.
Several of those airports have direct EasyJet connections with Berlin, meaning passengers travelling between Germany and France could be affected if services are cancelled or crews withdraw their labour.
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What should passengers do?
For now, passengers do not need to take any action unless they are contacted by the airline.
EasyJet generally informs affected customers directly by email, text message or through its mobile app, often a few days before departure once flight schedules have been finalised.
Travellers flying during the affected periods should regularly check their booking status and monitor any messages from the airline.
Why are workers striking?
In Portugal, cabin crew representatives have accused EasyJet of failing to honour collective agreements, making frequent schedule changes and relying too heavily on overtime due to staffing shortages.
The airline disputes some of those claims and says talks are continuing through Portugal’s labour mediation process.
In France, pilots say flight rosters are changed too often and with too little notice. The union argues that pilots should receive the same scheduling protections recently secured by French-based cabin crew after a separate strike earlier this year.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: thelocal.de
