Hints of summer labor strikes as the European summer travel season continues

It’s the summer travel season in Europe and doesn’t it always seem to coincide with a bunch of airport strikes? The union of German air traffic controllers recently cancelled a threatened strike which could have affected thousands of flights. In a separate action, Air France also began advising passengers to verify flight times before they travel since maintenance workers are extending their industrial action over pay disagreements.

Air France was also recently forced to scrap a number of flights due to a separate pilot walkout, which ended on August 1st.So, how does travel insurance protect travelers in the case of labor strikes? Striking workers can affect air travel on a much wider scale than just a single country because what affects one airport causes a ripple effect to others.

Typically, benefits for strike actions are focused in the trip cancellation and trip interruptioncoverage.Let’s take a look at how a couple of travel insurance companies define this benefit. In the Gold plan by Travel Guard, the wording reads:“Strike” means a stoppage of work:
(1) announced, organized, and sanctioned by a labor union and
(2) which interferes with the normal departure and arrival of a
Common Carrier.
This includes work slowdowns and sickouts. The Insured’s Trip
cancellation coverage must be effective prior to when the Strike
is foreseeable. A Strike is foreseeable on the date labor union
members vote to approve a Strike.

In the Select plan by Travelex, we found this wording:

3. arrangements canceled by an airline, cruise line,
motor coach company, or tour operator, resulting
from inclement weather, mechanical breakdown
or organized labor strikes that affect public
transportation.

So, for some travel insurance plans, the effects of a strike can reach into public transportation such as trains and buses as well. Many times, the description of coverage for a travel plan will allow reimbursement benefits for travel delays and missed connections for the same covered reasons listed in the trip cancellation and interruption sections.

The key, however, is that the strike must not be a known event before your travel insurance’s effective date. It’s important to purchase your travel insurance soon after you make your initial travel arrangements so that you have plenty of time to get the policy in effect for instances like this.