‘Allow travellers caught up in strike chaos free flight changes’

AIRLINES must allow passengers to switch flights for free to avoid the chaos of a summer of strikes, consumer experts have argued.

Staff at Heathrow Airport, British Airways (BA), easyJet and Ryanair are all considering strike action, potentially this week, meaning travellers could face delays and cancellations.

Consumer rights groups told The Sunday Telegraph that airlines should waive the often costly fees for those who, where possible, wanted to move their flights to days that will be unaffected in a bid to minimise disruption.

One traveller due to fly to South Africa with British Airways on Friday was told his family of five would be charged £150 per person if they wanted to travel on Thursday instead.

Other airlines charges include between £17 and £57 with easyJet, £40 and £45 with Flybe and £35 with Jet2, the Civil Aviation Authority reports.

Martyn James, of consumer complaints service Resolver, said: “Strikes are often seen as a foreseeable event and so covered by compensation so you could argue that it’s beneficial to airlines to waive these charges. If passengers are willing to be accommodating and move around strikes, I can see no reason to charge them to do so.”

James Daley, of consumer watchdog Fairer Finance, said: “Ultimately if workers follow through with these strikes then that is a failure on the part of the employers to come to an agreement and be on good terms with their staff. If that leads to disruption of their services, it shouldn’t be the customers who pay the price for that.”

Generally strikes by airline staff are covered by compensation schemes while unconnected strikes, by air traffic control staff for example, are not.

Last minute talks between Heathrow Airport and Unite, the union, will resume tomorrow. If these are unsuccessful, as many as 4,000 airport staff plan to walk out on Friday and Saturday, and on four other days in August.

A ballot on strike action by BA pilots is expected to close tomorrow, while easyJet and Ryanair staff are considering action in the coming weeks.

BA said it had been assured by Heathrow that contingency plans are in place and it planned to operate a schedule as normal. It said its charges vary depending on the ticket.

Heathrow said it would do everything to minimise impact on travellers.

Virgin Atlantic, which operates from Heathrow, said its policy is being reviewed in light of the potential action and that decisions on charges would be made on a case-by-case basis.

A spokesman for easyJet said it does sometimes allow passengers to change flights for free if there could be disruption but that it has plans in place if the strike goes ahead.

Ryanair was approached for comment but had not responded at the time of going to press.