When a strike disrupts a flight from, to or within Poland, your right to compensation under EU Regulation 261/2004 comes down to a single question: who is striking? If the airline's own pilots or cabin crew walk out, the case is normally inside the carrier's control and you are entitled to €250, €400 or €600 in fixed compensation. If air traffic control, airport security or ground handlers strike, the case is usually an extraordinary circumstance and the fixed cash is blocked — but the duty of care (meals, drinks, hotel) still applies. This guide explains exactly where the line falls, with the rules as they work in Poland: the supervising authority is the Rzecznik Praw Pasażerów (RPP) at the ULC (Urząd Lotnictwa Cywilnego), lawsuits go to the Sąd Rejonowy, and the Polish Civil Code gives you ten years to file. Polish version of this guide: strajk pracowników lotniska — odszkodowanie .
The decisive question: whose strike is it?
EU 261 gives no fixed compensation when a disruption is caused by extraordinary circumstances outside the airline's control. Every strike-related claim is therefore an argument about where that line falls. With strikes, the line is unusually clean: it sits between the airline's own employees and everyone else.
| Who is striking | Within the airline's control? | Right to fixed compensation (€250–€600) | Right to duty of care (meals, hotel) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Own cabin crew | Yes, normally | Yes, usually | Yes |
| Own pilots | Yes, normally | Yes, usually | Yes |
| Air traffic control (ATC strike) | No | No, usually not | Yes |
| Airport staff (security, baggage, ground) | No | No, usually not | Yes |
| Subcontractor staff (catering, fuel) | Assessed case by case | Depends on facts | Yes |
The logic is simpler than it looks. When the airline's own staff strike, the dispute is about the airline's own pay scales, its own negotiations and its own management decisions. It is part of running an airline — a known business risk, not a bolt from the blue. When air traffic control or the airport strikes, the carrier is hit by something somebody else caused, in the same way it would be hit by extreme weather. The Court of Justice has confirmed this logic in case law; we walk through it below.
A note on amounts: under Article 7 EU 261 the fixed compensation is €250 for flights up to 1,500 km, €400 for flights between 1,500 and 3,500 km (and for intra-EU flights over 1,500 km), and €600 for non-EU flights over 3,500 km. Distance is calculated by the great-circle method from the airport of first departure to the final destination. Use our calculator on how to value a claim if you want to skip the maths.
When the airline's own pilots or cabin crew strike: usually compensation
If the cabin crew or pilots of the airline you were due to fly with stop work, the starting point is that you are entitled to compensation — provided the flight was cancelled or arrived more than three hours late, and you were notified less than 14 days in advance.
The clearest legal source is the Court of Justice judgment in Krüsemann and Others (C-195/17, 2018). The case concerned a so-called wildcat strike — staff at TUIfly called in sick en masse in protest at a restructuring announcement, without their union formally calling industrial action. The carrier argued this was an extraordinary circumstance. The Court disagreed: a spontaneous staff conflict rooted in the airline's own decisions belongs to normal operations and lies within the airline's control. No extraordinary circumstance, no escape from compensation.
What this means in practice for a Polish passenger: if you get a rejection in which the airline labels its own pilots' or crew's strike as an extraordinary circumstance, the rejection stands on weak legal ground. It is worth disputing. The question of announced, union-called strikes is more legally debated than wildcat strikes, but even there the main rule weighs heavily — the airline's own labour conflict is the airline's own responsibility. Lower courts across the EU, including Polish Sądy Rejonowe, have largely followed the Krüsemann logic.
The same rule reaches the cash side of any delay caused by an own-crew strike. Under Sturgeon (joined cases C-402/07 and C-432/07, 2009) a delay of three hours or more at the final destination triggers the same fixed compensation as a cancellation. So if a pilot strike means your Warsaw → Madrid flight lands at 02:30 instead of 22:30, you are inside the Sturgeon doctrine and the €400 is on the table.
When ATC or the airport strikes: usually no fixed compensation
If instead air traffic control — often abbreviated ATC — or airport staff (security screeners, ground handlers, baggage handlers) walk out, the picture changes. The airline is now hit by something it does not run. Such a strike normally counts as an extraordinary circumstance and the fixed €250–€600 is blocked.
This is the situation behind some of the most frustrated threads on Polish travel forums. A passenger forwards an airline reply that reads, almost word for word: "ATC delays and air traffic queues are considered force majeure and lie outside the airline's control. Only the duty of care applies, no compensation." For a pure ATC strike, that wording is largely correct.
But the qualifier "largely" matters. The airline must still demonstrate that it took every reasonable measure to avoid your specific departure being cancelled. An ATC strike in France does not necessarily kill a Warsaw → Lisbon flight that could have been re-routed via a Spanish or Italian sector. A cancellation that the carrier announces two days after the ATC strike has ended is also open to challenge — the strike may no longer be the real cause. Polish Sądy Rejonowe have rejected blanket "ATC strike" defences where the timeline did not add up.
A practical example. A Ryanair flight from Warsaw to Naples is cancelled on a day with no ATC strike, but the airline writes "linked to ATC disruption earlier in the week". Without a published NOTAM, a rotation log and a clear chain of causation, that defence will not hold. Ask, in writing, for the documentation; if it never arrives, escalate.
"Event outside our control" — the airline's standard language
It pays to recognise the exact wording. When an airline rejects a strike-related claim, a handful of phrases recur: extraordinary circumstances, force majeure, and the most common — "the compensation you are claiming does not apply because the disruption was caused by an event outside our control". The phrases are not wrong as legal concepts. The problem is that they are used as a catch-all, pasted into every rejection without distinguishing between strike types.
A rejection that simply says "strike → outside our control", without naming whose strike it was, has not made the assessment EU 261 requires. That is the moment to push back. Send a short reply asking the carrier to specify: which strike, by which workers, on which date, and what concrete measures it took to avoid your particular cancellation. A serious carrier with a real extraordinary-circumstance defence will produce the evidence; a carrier hiding a wildcat strike behind force-majeure language will go quiet.
For the detailed legal framework on which strikes fall inside the exception and which do not, see our companion piece in Polish on the airport workers' strike — odszkodowanie and the ATC strike — odszkodowanie . The English denied boarding compensation guide also has useful parallels on burden-of-proof rules.
The duty of care always applies — even without compensation
Here is the distinction most passengers miss and that airlines rarely volunteer. Even when you are not entitled to the €250–€600, you are entitled to be looked after while you wait. This is the duty of care under Article 9 EU 261, and an ATC strike does not switch it off.
The duty of care applies in every strike, of every type. While you wait for the airline to re-route you, the carrier must offer free of charge:
- meals and drinks in reasonable quantity, in proportion to the waiting time;
- two phone calls, telex or fax messages, or emails — the legal text is dated, but the principle is "stay in touch";
- a hotel if you have to wait overnight, plus transport between airport and hotel.
The Court of Justice spelled out the limits explicitly in McDonagh (C-12/11, 2013), the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic-ash case. The Court held that the duty of care under Article 9 has no time limit and no financial cap, even when the disruption flows from the most exceptional circumstance imaginable. A Polish carrier that hides behind "force majeure" to leave passengers on the airport floor for two nights is in clear breach.
If the airline does not meet its obligation on the spot — and during a major strike, that is when capacity often breaks down — buy reasonable meals and book a reasonable hotel yourself, and keep every receipt. Polish courts apply a "reasonable cost" standard: a sit-down dinner at the airport restaurant is fine; the lobster menu at the Hilton is not. Reclaim the costs by written demand later; if refused, add them to the lawsuit. There is more on the on-the-spot rules in our companion piece on the right to care, meals and a hotel .
Refund vs compensation — keep the two apart
Before going to the next steps, one more rule that constantly confuses passengers caught up in a strike.
A refund is the price of the ticket back to your card or bank account. Under Article 8 EU 261 it must be paid within seven days, in cash or by electronic bank transfer. You always have the right to choose between a refund and re-routing on the next available flight, regardless of who is striking. That choice does not depend on the extraordinary-circumstance question.
Compensation — the €250 to €600 — is something else. It is a fixed payment for the disruption itself, set by distance, independent of what you paid for the ticket. It is the question that turns on whose strike caused the mess.
The two rights are cumulative. Taking the refund does not waive the right to fixed compensation when an own-crew strike was the cause. An airline that processes the refund and then writes "matter closed" is misrepresenting the law. Send a reply citing Article 7 EU 261, with the booking reference and the calculated amount in euros.
How to take a strike claim forward in Poland
The procedure for a strike-related claim in Poland is the same as for any EU 261 dispute, and it runs along a three-step path.
Step 1 — Written demand to the airline. A short letter or email, citing EU Regulation 261/2004 Article 5 (cancellation) or Article 6 (delay), Article 7 (amounts) and, where relevant, Article 8 (refund or re-routing). Set a 14-day deadline. Include the booking reference, flight number, date, distance and the calculated amount in euros. Polish carriers (LOT, Enter Air) have Polish-language passenger-rights forms on their websites; foreign carriers (Ryanair, Wizz Air, easyJet) accept English. Costs zero.
Step 2 — Complaint to the RPP at the ULC. If the airline rejects the claim or stays silent for 30 days, file a free complaint with the Rzecznik Praw Pasażerów (Passenger Rights Ombudsman) at the Urząd Lotnictwa Cywilnego (Civil Aviation Authority) via the official ULC online form . The RPP issues a non-binding opinion within roughly 90 days. The opinion is non-binding but carries real weight: airlines that lose at the RPP often pay rather than risk a Sąd Rejonowy judgment that becomes published case law. Costs zero.
Step 3 — Lawsuit at the Sąd Rejonowy. If the RPP opinion does not unlock the money, sue in the simplified procedure (postępowanie uproszczone) before the Sąd Rejonowy with jurisdiction either over the airline's registered office or — under Rehder (C-204/08, 2009) — over the airport of departure or arrival. The court fee for claims up to PLN 2,000 is PLN 30; for higher amounts up to the €600 cap it is around PLN 100. Cases under €600 are normally handled on paper, without a hearing. You have ten years from the date of the cancelled flight — the Polish prescription period under Article 118 of the Civil Code, confirmed for EU 261 claims by Cuadrench Moré (C-139/11, 2013). Both the written demand to the airline and the RPP complaint can interrupt the clock.
If you would rather skip the back-and-forth, you can hand the case to a passenger-rights service. A service of that kind pursues the claim for you and takes a commission — typically 20–35% — only if it succeeds. If the claim fails, you pay nothing. You trade part of the payout for not having to deal with the airline, the RPP and the Sąd Rejonowy yourself. There is a fuller comparison in our guide on whether to claim yourself or use a service .
Start a free strike-claim check with AirHelp — no win, no fee
This is an affiliate link — if your claim succeeds we may receive a fee, without changing your payout. Our affiliate disclosure explains how it works. If you prefer to do everything yourself, the steps above are free.
When a strike is part of a bigger story
A strike rarely happens in isolation. A few adjacent situations come up constantly in RPP files, and each has its own thresholds.
- Strike causes a long delay, not a cancellation. If the flight was operated but arrived three hours or more late at the final destination, the cash rules from Sturgeon (joined cases C-402/07 and C-432/07, 2009) apply — and the whose-strike test still controls whether you get the €250–€600.
- Strike causes a missed connection. If the first leg was delayed by a strike and you missed a connecting flight on the same booking, the EU treats the whole journey as one transport unit. The distance for compensation purposes is the full route from the original departure to the final destination, not the leg you missed. See missed connection compensation for the full mechanics.
- Strike causes denied boarding. Some carriers respond to a strike by consolidating flights and bumping passengers. That is denied boarding under EU 261 and triggers fixed compensation even when the strike is by airport workers — because the consolidation decision is the airline's own. See our denied boarding compensation guide .
- Strike linked to a technical fault. If the strike is given as a cover for a maintenance backlog, the Wallentin-Hermann (C-549/07, 2008) rule on technical faults kicks in: those are not extraordinary either, and the carrier owes the full amount.
Either way, the underlying procedure in Poland stays identical: written demand, RPP complaint, Sąd Rejonowy.
Key takeaways
- A strike-related claim under EU 261 turns on a single question: who is striking.
- An own-crew strike (cabin crew, pilots) is normally within the airline's control and triggers fixed compensation of €250, €400 or €600 — confirmed in Krüsemann (C-195/17, 2018) for wildcat strikes and largely extended to announced action.
- An ATC strike or an airport staff strike is normally an extraordinary circumstance — no fixed compensation, but the duty of care under Article 9 EU 261 always applies (McDonagh, C-12/11, 2013).
- A delay of three hours or more at the final destination caused by an own-crew strike gives the same compensation as a cancellation, under Sturgeon (C-402/07 and C-432/07, 2009).
- In Poland the path is: written demand → Rzecznik Praw Pasażerów (RPP) at the ULC → Sąd Rejonowy in the simplified procedure (postępowanie uproszczone). Jurisdiction can be either the airline's seat or — per Rehder (C-204/08, 2009) — the airport of departure or arrival.
- The prescription period in Poland is ten years under Article 118 of the Kodeks cywilny, confirmed for EU 261 claims by Cuadrench Moré (C-139/11, 2013).
- A blanket "strike = outside our control" rejection is wrong. Demand specifics; if the carrier cannot produce evidence, escalate.
This is not legal advice
This page is based on EU Regulation 261/2004, published case law of the Court of Justice and guidance from the Polish Civil Aviation Authority (ULC). It is general consumer information, not legal advice for a specific dispute. For advice on your individual case, contact the Rzecznik Praw Pasażerów at the Urząd Lotnictwa Cywilnego (ULC) in Warsaw — review is free and the procedure is in Polish — or a Polish lawyer specialising in air passenger rights.
Strike cases are assessed individually, and some legal questions — particularly around announced, union-called pilot strikes — remain debated in national courts across the EU. We date and update this page when the Court of Justice, EUR-Lex or the ULC publishes something new.