easyJet Italy Strike 16 October 2026: Flights and Rights

Nationwide strike by easyJet crew in Italy

According to the official strike register of the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport, the strike targets easyJet Airlines Limited, it’s nationwide, it was called on 14 September 2026 and its status is « scheduled ». No cancellation of the strike appears as of 8 October. The Italian press, including The Flight Club, refers to the airline’s crews. Depending on the source you’ll read « cabin crew » or just « crews » without always saying whether pilots are included, so simply remember « easyJet’s crews in Italy ».

Some sites mix up 15 and 16 October. The official register says the 16th, and that’s the date reliable Italian media use.

What’s still to be confirmed

• The list of guaranteed flights hasn’t been published yet by ENAC, Italy’s civil aviation authority.
• No dated easyJet statement about this strike was available on 8 October.
• A strike can always be called off after negotiations: check the register the day before and on the morning you travel.

easyJet flights to or from Italy

In Italy, the law sets « fasce di garanzia », or guaranteed bands. According to the ENAC « Voli garantiti » page, these are the slots from 07:00 to 10:00 and from 18:00 to 21:00, during which essential flights must operate. That doesn’t mean every flight in those slots: it’s a named list drawn up with the airlines. That list hasn’t been published yet, so Pixidia doesn’t give one. Remember the method: check the ENAC page in the days before and see whether your flight number is on it.

Outside those windows, cancellation is the usual scenario. During the 21 July strike, the USB union claimed strong participation and more than 50 cancelled flights (a union figure, to be taken as such, see the USB note). That’s not a forecast for the 16th: the impact depends on how many crew join in.

If you’re flying from the UK

• A London-Milan, London-Rome, London-Naples, London-Venice or Manchester-Rome easyJet flight could be hit if its crew is based in Italy. That’s a deduction from previous strikes, not an official list.
• Crews based in the UK aren’t covered by this notice. Any knock-on effect would come through the aircraft’s rotations during the day.
• The Italian bases named in the press: Milan Malpensa, Rome Fiumicino, Naples and Venice Marco Polo.
• Other airlines aren’t targeted. As things stand, the register shows no other passenger-airline strike for that date.

The step-by-step routine

If a flight is cancelled, the rules (EU261 for flights leaving Italy, UK261 for flights leaving the UK) let you choose between a refund (within 7 days) and re-routing, either as soon as possible or at a later date that suits you. easyJet’s exact procedure is on its official disruption help page: that’s what counts, so go there before you act.

1. Check your email, the easyJet app and « Manage bookings »: the cancellation shows up there.
2. Choose another easyJet flight at no cost, as close as possible to your original time, or the refund. If you have a choice, aim for the protected windows of 07:00-10:00 or 18:00-21:00.
3. Ask, if no seat is offered, for re-routing on another airline. You can ask; easyJet isn’t always ready to do it.
4. At the airport, go to the desk or use the app to ask for care and assistance.
5. Keep everything: booking confirmation, a screenshot of the cancellation message showing when it arrived, boarding passes, meal receipts, taxis, hotel.

If you buy a new ticket yourself without going through easyJet, the cost can be disputed. Keep your receipts and, when you can, ask in writing what will be refunded before you buy.

Refund, care, compensation

Two regimes can apply. Flights leaving Italy fall under the EU regulation 261/2004. Flights leaving the UK fall under UK261, the version of the same rules kept in UK law after Brexit. A flight from Italy to the UK with a UK-licensed airline can sometimes fall under both, so ask easyJet which one it applies to your booking.

According to Your Europe, an internal strike by an airline’s staff doesn’t release the airline from paying compensation. The EU’s Court of Justice ruled on it in Airhelp v SAS (C-28/20, 23 March 2021): a strike organised by a union of the carrier’s own staff, notably to win pay rises, isn’t an extraordinary circumstance, even if it complies with national law (CJEU press release). A strike is an event inherent in the normal running of a carrier.

That ruling came after Brexit, so UK courts aren’t bound by it. In the UK, the Civil Aviation Authority lists strikes unrelated to the airline (airport staff, ground handlers, air traffic control, border force) as extraordinary circumstances. A strike by the airline’s own staff isn’t on that list.

The three levels of protection

• Refund or re-routing (art. 8), in every case of cancellation.
• Care and assistance (art. 9) while you wait: meals and refreshments, accommodation if needed, transfers, two communications.
• Compensation (art. 7): €250 up to 1,500 km, €400 between 1,500 and 3,500 km on an intra-European flight, €600 beyond. Under UK261 the equivalent figures are £220, £350 and £520.

The deadlines that change everything

As a general rule, under article 5 of the regulation, compensation isn’t due in three cases:

• You were told more than 14 days before departure, so before 2 October for the 16th.
• You were told between 14 and 7 days before, and you’re offered a flight leaving no more than 2 hours before the original time and arriving less than 4 hours after.
• You were told less than 7 days before (from about 9 October), with a flight leaving no more than 1 hour before and arriving less than 2 hours after.

These thresholds are rebuilt from secondary official sources; we couldn’t re-read the full EUR-Lex text. Check the wording in the regulation itself before you claim.

How much, in practice?

Many routes from southern England to northern and central Italy come in under 1,500 km, which means €250 or £220. Flights to Naples, Sicily or Sardinia, or from northern England and Scotland, can go over that line and move up to the next band (€400 or £350). Check the exact distance of your route before you quote a figure.

The routes, from simplest to longest

1. easyJet’s claim form, free, with your supporting documents.
2. The national enforcement body if the answer is a refusal: the UK CAA for a flight leaving the UK, ENAC for a flight leaving Italy. The CAA’s guide to claiming costs and compensation explains the steps.
3. Alternative dispute resolution or the courts, citing C-28/20 and the CAA’s guidance if the airline claims an extraordinary circumstance. Ask for its justification in writing first.

On time limits, they depend on where you bring the claim, and we haven’t confirmed the figure for Italy. Don’t leave it: send your claim within a few weeks, while your receipts and screenshots are fresh.

Bank card and insurance

Some premium bank accounts and credit cards include travel disruption cover, which is separate from the statutory compensation. Check your policy: you usually need to have paid for the flight with that card, and limits vary. Travel insurance bought now will most likely exclude this strike, since it’s already known.

Airport by airport

• Milan Malpensa, Rome Fiumicino, Naples: easyJet bases. Same logic as above, so favour the 07:00-10:00 or 18:00-21:00 slots.
• Venice Marco Polo: according to the press, a strike by security staff (Sicuritalia Ivri) is also reported. Allow extra time at security. It counts as an outside strike, generally treated as an extraordinary circumstance: no compensation as a general rule, but care and the refund remain due.
• Pisa and Florence: a 24-hour USB strike by airport staff (handling), which can affect all flights, not only easyJet’s.
• Naples, evening of the 16th: local press reports a strike on the EAV local transport network from 19:30 to 23:30. It doesn’t appear in the extract of the register we checked: confirm on the operator’s site and plan a taxi if you’re heading to Pompeii or Sorrento in the evening.

One site also mentions an air traffic control stoppage on the 16th. We can’t find it in the official register, so we’re not including it. The rail situation wasn’t checked here: consult the register or our guide to the strikes in Italy in mid-October.

If you’re carrying on to France or flying home via a French airport, note that a strike notice for pilots and cabin crew runs from 17 to 21 October: read our update on that notice. To compare with what happened this summer, see the calendar of air strikes in summer 2026.