Italian air traffic controllers are striking for 24 hours this Tuesday, February 25, 2020.

This strike significantly affects flights to/from via Italian airports and those using the country’s airspace. Alitalia has canceled 350 scheduled flights for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

You can access Alitalia’s page for flight information here.

Note that this strike doesn’t only affect Alitalia flights. If you are scheduled to fly to or from Italy this Tuesday, you should confirm that the plane is operating.

Here’s the statement from Alitalia:

SPECIAL MEASURES TO MITIGATE CUSTOMER INCONVENIENCE DUE TO 24-HOUR ITALIAN AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS AND AVIATION SECTOR STRIKES SCHEDULED FOR 25 FEBRUARY 2020

Due to 24-hour Italian air traffic controllers and aviation sector strikes confirmed by some trade unions for Tuesday 25 February, Alitalia was forced to cancel several flights scheduled for that day.

Flights set to operate on 25 February during the peak times between 7 am to 10 am and from 6 pm to 9 pm will operate as scheduled.

List of cancelled flights on 25 February is available here.

As a consequence of the flight cancellations on 25 February due to the 24-hour strikes, Alitalia was also forced to cancel some flights on the late evening of 24 February and on the early morning of 26 February.

List of cancelled flights on 24 and 26 February is available here.

Alitalia has taken special measures to mitigate customer inconvenience by operating bigger aircraft on domestic and international routes, in order to rebook passengers affected by cancellations onto the first available flights on the same day: more than half of the involved travelers will fly on the same 25 February.

Travelers affected by cancellations can check on which flight they have been rebooked by connecting at www.alitalia.com and filling in the empty fields ‘First Name’, ‘Last Name’ and ‘Reservation Code’ in the ‘MY FLIGHTS’ section in the home page of the website.

Alitalia invites all customers already holding tickets for travels on 25 February, as well as on the late evening of 24 February and the early morning of 26 February, to check the status of their flights before going to the airport on alitalia.com website, or calling the airline at the toll-free number 800.65.00.55 (within Italy), at +39 06.65649 (from overseas), or contacting the travel agency where the ticket was bought.

Travelers affected by cancellation or schedule change of Alitalia flights from the late evening of 24 February to the early morning of 26 February can rebook their travel at no additional cost or penalty, or ask for a full ticket refund (only if the flight is cancelled or the delay on departure exceeds 5 hours) by 2 March.

Here are the canceled flights as of today:

Conclusion

Italian air traffic controllers have been on strike quite a few times in the past 12 months. I wish that there would be a resolution to this issue.

Remember that the cash compensation per EC 261/2004 for delays and cancellations doesn’t apply because this is outside of the airlines’ control. They are required, however, to provide duty to care in case of long delays (accommodation, meals, and phone cards).

Airlines are also required to rebook affected passengers to their final destination at the earliest opportunity even if this means booking on competing airlines.