EasyJet strike: Flight attendants to walk out causing 'ripple-effect' of cancelled and delayed flights across UK and Europe during Easter holidays

Flight attendants at EasyJet are set to walkout on Wednesday April 9, potentially causing a ‘ripple-effect’ of disrupted air journeys across the UK and Europe. Flight attendants belonging to Italian Federation of Transport Workers (FILT), the Italian General Confederation of Labour (CGIL) and the Italian Union of Transport (UIL) will strike for a planned four hours, according to the Italian Ministry of Transport. The strikes are expected to take place between 10.30am and 2.30pm Italian local time.

A leading flight compensation lawyer is suggesting that this latest wave of easyJet strikes could prove extremely costly for the budget airline. This is due to UK and EU courts potentially viewing the strikes as preventable, meaning that easyJet may have to compensate passengers whose journeys are cancelled or delayed as a result of the industrial action.

Anton Radchenko, an international lawyer and CEO of compensation experts AirAdvisor explains: “Flight attendant strikes can be extremely damaging for an airline’s day-to-day operations. This is because flight attendants are a vital component in the service that commercial airlines provide, helping passengers to have a pleasant flight, but also ensuring safety equipment is working properly and demonstrating emergency procedures.

“Strikes can lead to services being short-staffed or unable to take-off, ultimately causing flights to be cancelled. This can create a ripple effect hitting other services that were relying on an aircraft and its crew being available for new flights in the intended destination. Equally, when flights are delayed, they can miss their departure slot, which might cause other services from the same airport to depart later than planned. So flights from the UK to Italy and vice versa can very easily be impacted.“

Trends suggest that staff strikes could be an industry-wide nightmare for airlines in 2025, with pilots and crew seeking better pay and working conditions across major European economies. Mr Radchenko added: “In February, easyJet pilots went on strike, while in late March, staff from Finland’s flagship airline, Finnair, walked out causing 70 flights to be cancelled in a single day. And airline staff strikes can prove to be extremely costly for airlines.

“This is because airlines may seek to draft in other staff to take the place of striking crew. But also due to the courts possibly viewing staff strikes as avoidable - and therefore passengers affected by disruption could be due compensation. The air passenger rights regulation entitles you to compensation of between £220 and £520 if your flight is delayed by more than three hours or cancelled, as a result of industrial action by airline staff.

“If your easyJet flight on 9 April is cancelled or delayed, we strongly suggest collecting any written evidence like SMS or emails stating strikes as the reason. You can use AirAdvisor’s free compensation calculator to figure out what you might be owed, before filing a claim."