Today I came across the website www.seekitaly.com which has a section devoted to planned strikes in Italy. Now I'm wondering what the consequences of an Alitalia strike will have on my travel plans. I'm pretty sure the airline will reschedule you, but do they pay for charges/fees you might incur due to the delays (e.g. missed train connections, no-show fee for 1st night hotel if flight was nighttime flight, etc.)? I would like to hear about other people's experiences with delays caused by airline strikes. Thanks in advance!

Try posting this on the Europe board - I bet somethere will know.

In most cases the following do not fall under any compansation rules:
War/Terrorism/Civil Disobediance at either end
Weather at either end
Act of God open for interpretation
Labor Disruption at either end
Government orders at either end

Only issues that are fully controlled by the airline are usually compansated in some way, but don't ever think it's a guarantee. The famous rule 240 that everybody quotes is NOT a law. It's a leftover from when airlines were regulated by US government. After deragulation, the airlines kept that rule as a gesture of good will towards the passengers, but that is only true with US based airlines, and another important fact that many casual flyers don't know, each airline "tweaked" the rule to their own liking, so no 2 are exactly alike.

Anyway, to answer your question? No, you are definitely not entitled to any compansation for lost vacation time, hotel reservation, lost attraction tickets, etc. That's what Travel Insurance is for.

Most major airlines may put you up in a hotel for 1 night of you happen to be stranded and they can't put you on a different airline, and they may throw in a meal voucher, a phone card, but again, labor disruption does NOT fall into "THEY WILL" category.

Hope this helps.

Thanks ndf321! I posted this same question on the Europe board already.

Thanks AAFrequentFlyer! Very helpful info. Too bad it's not really good news for the traveler, but at least I'm prepared for the worst.

We were in France last summer during the big strikes there. The strike was scheduled to begin the day we were fly home on Delta. (At least, they warn you ahead of time). I called Delta, and they told me to show up way early--we arrived at the airport at 6:00 am--flight was scheduled to leave around 11:00. No Delta gate agents showed up till about 7:00. We then learned that our flight was cancelled, but we were rebooked on a later flight that day. Since our flight was on Delta, we didn't have too many problems, but all domestic and most international Air France flights were cancelled that day. The airport was a madhouse.

Thanks Rachel! I'll be flying on Delta also, so that's good to know that they would warn you ahead of time.