The European Court of Justice has ruled that cabin crew strikes are not an exceptional circumstance within the meaning of the Air Passenger Rights Ordinance. As a result, airlines have to pay the compensation.

The complaint was filed by a passenger whose flight from Salzburg to Berlin was canceled due to a flight attendant strike. Eurowings refused to pay the compensation in the amount of 250 euros and took the position that the cancellation was due to an exceptional circumstance.

The dispute dragged itself through the courts and finally ended up under the reference number C-613/20 before the European Court of Justice. Eurowings argued that all reasonable measures had been taken to prevent the cancellation. The Supreme Court sees the matter differently and is of the opinion that if the parent company goes on strike, it must be expected that employees of subsidiaries will also take part in the industrial action. This applies in particular if the union explicitly calls on employees of this airline to go out of work.

Eurowings cannot claim that it has no influence when employees go on strike for better working conditions. Much more, this would have been avoidable in advance. Thus, the ECJ is of the opinion that the cause of work stoppages can in principle be controlled, but that the strikes were accepted.

In an initial statement, Eurowings takes note of the ruling and regrets that the European Court of Justice has not followed the arguments put forward. The Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry criticizes the fact that the decision does not show when a strike is an exceptional circumstance and when it is not. In this context, they are calling for the amendment of the Passenger Rights Ordinance and want to ensure that airlines do not have to pay compensation in the event of work stoppages.