easyJet Strike in Portugal, December 2026: Dates and Rights

What is announced at the time of writing

easyJet cabin crew strike in Portugal

Saturday 19 to Wednesday 23 December 2026 Hours not specified Lisbon, Porto, Faro Cabin crew (SNPVAC)

On 17 September 2026, the SNPVAC union announced in its statement a strike by its members who are cabin crew based at easyJet in Portugal. It follows an earlier strike from 2 to 6 October. The December dates, 19 to 23, are those of the strike notice. According to Infos Tourisme, the DGERT, the Portuguese labour administration, has confirmed these dates.

The status should be read with care. The most recent primary sources we found date from 6 October 2026. A TravelTourister article, with an extraction date of 17 October, says the strike is maintained. A TVI headline dated 6 October announces that the October strike « ended with an agreement ». The video has no readable text, and the headline does not say whether December is affected, so we do not write that an agreement has been reached.

Why the strike? According to the union, it concerns the stability of schedules, which sometimes change at the last minute, pay progression linked to seniority, and respect for the company agreement. easyJet, on the other hand, states that its Portuguese cabin crew are paid above the national average. The company’s position is not verified in the sources we consulted.

• Strike notice filed for the five days, according to Portuguese press from October 2026.
• Minimum services ordered on 29 September 2026, according to the press citing the DGERT.
• No cancellation and no agreement confirmed at the date of consultation, 27 October 2026.

Pixidia advice: treat the strike as neither confirmed nor cancelled. Check the status of your booking in the easyJet app a few days before departure, then again the day before.

If your flight is moved or re-routed during those days, the biggest risk is having to find a way to the airport at short notice. A private transfer covers the airport-to-hotel journey in Lisbon if you arrive at or leave from LIS during the strike. It does not cover a cancelled flight or the compensation.

Lisbon Airport to Hotel in Lisbon (or vice versa)★ 5.05 · 78 reviewsPartner link €85 for 2 travellers, or €42.50 per person (price checked for 19 to 23 December 2026)

See dates

Minimum services: the routes the airline must maintain

Minimum services set a number of rotations per route and per day during the strike. Joint order (despacho conjunto) no. 51/2026 from the DGERT, the Portuguese labour authority, appears on the « Destaques » list of the DGERT website, as relayed by DNoticias (press). Observador, in its article of the same day, gives the rotations per route without quoting the number. We could not extract the text of the PDF published on the DGERT website, so the figures below come from the press that cites it.

A rotation is a return trip. These figures are minimums per route, not a guarantee for a specific flight. A flight can be operated by a crew from another base, a practice the union disputes.

Source: Observador, 29 September 2026, for the rotations per route; reference to joint order no. 51/2026 found on the « Destaques » list of the DGERT, as relayed by DNoticias (press); checked on 27 October 2026.

The islands are not treated the same way. Funchal, in Madeira, is covered by two rotations a day from Lisbon and two from Porto. Porto Santo has only one rotation from Lisbon, and only on the scheduled day: it is the most fragile link on the list. Madeira and Porto Santo are not strike bases, but their flights remain exposed to cancellation if the minimum rotations are not kept.

The October strike figures: who is behind them

The October strike, from 2 to 6 October 2026, serves as a test for December. The figures published vary widely, because the union and the airline do not count the same things. The table below keeps the author of each figure. None of these counts is an official report.

Source: Observador (29 September, 2 and 6 October 2026), ECO (5 October 2026), TravelBI and Turismo de Portugal (1 October 2026); checked on 27 October 2026.

The union also announced that 80% of flights were cancelled on the first day, in an Observador headline of 2 October. Infos Tourisme relates that figure to the schedule of the crews concerned, not to all easyJet flights. The counts do not match, and none of them is an official report. Above all, remember this: at the time of writing, no number of flights has been put forward for December. If someone quotes you a figure for this strike, ask who published it.

Your rights if your flight is cancelled

Refund, re-routing, care and compensation

€250 to €600 flat-rate compensation Care during the wait EC Regulation 261/2004

For a flight departing from an airport in the European Union, such as Lisbon, Porto or Faro, Regulation (EC) No 261/2004 applies. According to Your Europe, the European Commission page consulted on 27 October 2026, if your flight is cancelled you can choose between a refund of the ticket, re-routing as soon as possible, or re-routing at a later date that suits you, subject to seat availability. While you wait, the airline must provide refreshments and meals, accommodation if a night is needed, transport between the airport and the accommodation, and two calls or messages.

The amount of compensation depends on distance: €250 for a flight of up to 1,500 km, €400 for an intra-EU flight of more than 1,500 km and for flights of 1,500 to 3,500 km, €600 for a flight of more than 3,500 km. For a flight departing from the United Kingdom, a different regime may apply. We have not checked it, and it is not covered here.

The decisive point is the time between the notice of cancellation and departure. If the airline tells you about two weeks before departure or earlier, the flat-rate compensation is not due. The exact threshold should be checked in the text of the regulation, which we could not read (EUR-Lex). The table below covers the other cases. It proposes no calculated date: count from the date of your own flight.

Compensation depending on when the airline tells you about a cancellation

When you are notified	Flat-rate compensation	Re-routing that avoids compensation
About two weeks before departure, or earlier	Not due	Not applicable
Between two weeks and seven days before departure	Due, unless the re-routing departs at most 2 h earlier and arrives less than 4 h after	Departure at most 2 h earlier and arrival less than 4 h after the planned flight
Less than seven days before departure	Due, unless the re-routing departs at most 1 h earlier and arrives less than 2 h after	Departure at most 1 h earlier and arrival less than 2 h after the planned flight

Source: Your Europe, air passenger rights, checked on 27 October 2026.

Strike and compensation: in case C-28/20, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled on 23 March 2021 that a strike organised by an airline’s staff union, aimed in particular at pay rises, is not an extraordinary circumstance that exempts the airline. That case concerned SAS pilots. The SNPVAC’s demands concern schedules, pay progression and the company agreement. A strike aimed only at schedules is not settled by this press release. Court of Justice press release, consulted on 27 October 2026.

A revision of the European regulation is mentioned in secondary sources, with application announced for 2027, to be checked. We could not read the official text, either on EUR-Lex or in the Council of the EU’s statements. For a flight in December 2026, the rule described above is the one that applies, according to the sources consulted.

The steps, in order

If your flight is cancelled, the first step is with the airline, not with an authority. Keep a record of every exchange, every notification and every expense.

• Check the solution offered in the easyJet app or on the easyJet website, then choose between a refund, re-routing or a new date.
• Keep your receipts: meals, accommodation, transport, replacement tickets. They are what lets you claim the costs afterwards.
• Send your complaint to easyJet.
• If you get no reply within six weeks, or a reply that does not satisfy you, refer the matter to the Portuguese civil aviation authority, ANAC. The deadline is three years after the flight.

This procedure is listed on the official Portal do Cidadão, updated on 25 May 2026: claim in case of denied boarding, cancellation or delay of a flight. We did not test the online form: go through the official portal to fill it in.

What other guides don’t tell you

These three points do not repeat the body of the article. Each one carries its source and its consultation date.

• Proof of notification. According to Your Europe, the airline must prove that it personally informed you of the cancellation, with the date of that information. Keep the notification message (email, SMS or in-app message) with its date. Source: Your Europe, consulted on 27 October 2026.
• The strike vote. According to Observador (29 September 2026), the SNPVAC general meeting approved the strike unanimously, with 188 members present. This figure has not been independently verified. Consulted on 27 October 2026.
• Who to ask. To find out whether your flight is affected, ask easyJet, not ANAC. According to DNoticias (27 September 2026), ANAC reminds passengers that the airline remains the point of contact for information. Consulted on 27 October 2026.