Strike as an extraordinary circumstance

Abstract

In the Airhelp v SAS case (23 March 2021, C-28/20), the Court of Justice reconciled the interests of workers and passengers by stating that an announced strike by airline employees did not constitute an extraordinary circumstance in the sense of Article 5.3 Regulation 261/2004. This gave passengers a right to compensation and the Court safeguarded the right to strike in the event of a social dispute. The Court thereby invoked the right to collective action in Article 28 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. This case law was also confirmed in the Eurowings ruling (6 October 2021, C 613/20) concerning a secondary strike.