London Luton Strike Dates, easyJet Baggage Delays

Published on Dec 16, 2025, 1:39 pm CST

6 min read

Key points

DHL Supply Chain staff supporting easyJet check in and baggage services at London Luton Airport plan strike action in two blocks in late December 2025
The walkouts are scheduled from 3:00 a.m. on December 19 to 3:00 a.m. on December 22, 2025, and from 3:00 a.m. on December 26 to 3:00 a.m. on December 29, 2025, local time
Travelers should expect slower staffed check in, longer bag drop queues, and delayed baggage delivery even when flights operate
Going carry on only, taking earlier departures, and avoiding tight onward rail or coach connections reduces the chance a delay breaks the whole trip
If disruption escalates, rebooking options are likely to tighten quickly because these dates overlap peak UK holiday travel demand

Impact

Where Impacts Are Most Likely: Expect the biggest pinch at staffed check in, bag drop, and baggage reclaim at London Luton on the two strike blocks
Best Times To Fly: Favor flights outside the strike windows, and avoid last departures of the day when recovery options are limited
Connections And Misconnect Risk: Same day rail and coach plans are higher risk if you must check a bag, so add time buffers or build an overnight into the plan
Baggage Strategy: Carry on only is the single best risk reducer, and if you must check a bag, keep essentials in your cabin bag
What Travelers Should Do Now: Confirm your airline contact details, watch for waivers, and price backup routings before inventory tightens

Unite has confirmed two late December strike blocks involving DHL Supply Chain staff supporting baggage handling and staffed check in at London Luton Airport (LTN). Travelers flying easyJet from Luton, and anyone planning to check a bag or rely on counter service, are the most exposed. The practical move is to switch to carry on only when possible, shift departures away from the walkout windows if your fare allows, and add buffer time for both the airport process, and onward rail or coach connections.

The London Luton baggage strike is set to pressure baggage flows and aircraft turnarounds during December 19 to 22, 2025, and December 26 to 29, 2025, which raises the odds of delayed bags, longer queues, and flight disruption during peak holiday demand.

Based on published schedules in UK reporting, the first strike block runs from 300 a.m. local time on Friday, December 19, 2025, to 300 a.m. on Monday, December 22, 2025. The second block runs from 300 a.m. on Friday, December 26, 2025, to 300 a.m. on Monday, December 29, 2025. Because these are continuous multi day walkouts, disruption can carry from one bank of departures into the next, especially if baggage backlogs build or aircraft start rotating late.

easyJet has said it expects to operate its full flying program on the affected dates, and that contingency plans are in place with the airport, and DHL. That is useful framing for travelers, because it suggests many flights may still operate, but with degraded ground processing, which is exactly the scenario where checked bags, tight schedules, and self made connections become fragile.

Who Is Affected

Travelers departing from London Luton are most affected when their itinerary depends on services that sit directly in the baggage chain, staffed check in, bag drop acceptance, baggage sorting, loading, unloading, and delivery to reclaim. If you are traveling as a family, with sports gear, with winter clothing that pushes you into checked baggage, or with gifts that complicate repacking, your odds of getting stuck in the slow lane are higher than someone traveling with one cabin bag.

easyJet passengers are the primary risk group because Luton is one of the carrier's major UK bases, and the reported strike action centers on roles that support easyJet's ground operation there. Even if you are not flying easyJet, congestion at shared terminal pinch points can still matter, curbside drop offs can take longer, security queues can swell if check in lines spill, and flight delays can propagate across stands and gates when aircraft cannot turn on time.

Travelers with same day onward plans are the second major risk group. If you are landing at Luton and then trying to catch a fixed time rail service, a coach to another city, a pre booked car pickup, or a timed event check in, a baggage delay can be enough to break the plan. The risk is highest on separate tickets, and on last connections of the day, because your recovery options shrink fast once trains and coaches thin out in the evening.

What Travelers Should Do

Start by reducing your dependence on baggage systems. If you can travel carry on only, do it, even if it means paying for an upgraded cabin bag allowance, repacking into lighter layers, and moving bulky items like toiletries to your destination purchase plan. If you must check a bag, keep medication, chargers, a change of clothes, and any item you cannot replace in your cabin bag, and take photos of your bag and bag tag so you have what you need if you must file a delayed bag report.

Use decision thresholds to choose whether to wait, reroute, or move dates. If your itinerary includes a same day rail or coach connection, or anything that fails if you arrive more than about 60 to 90 minutes late, treat a strike day departure from Luton as a candidate for proactive change, either to an earlier flight, or to a routing from another London area airport if priced reasonably. If you are on one ticket with airline protected connections, you can often accept a same day reroute, but if you are on separate tickets, a next day reaccommodation, or a refund and self rebook can be the safer play once delays start stacking and options thin.

Over the next 24 to 72 hours, monitor three signals, airline app notifications for waivers or schedule changes, airport operations updates for queue and baggage messaging, and day of departure flight status trends for your specific flight number. If you see repeated rolling delays on early departures, that is a sign the operation is running behind and may not recover by evening, which is when you should shift to earlier flights, or move the trip to a non strike date if your plans are time sensitive.

How It Works

A baggage and check in dispute can look narrow, but it hits the travel system at a chokepoint. When staffed counters slow down, passengers arrive earlier and queues lengthen, which increases security peak loads and pushes more people into the terminal at the same time. When baggage sorting and ramp loading slow down, the aircraft can miss its planned departure slot, which then affects the next leg that aircraft is meant to operate. That creates second order ripples across crew schedules, gate availability, and downstream network punctuality, even for flights not originally expected to be disrupted.

Those ripples then spill beyond aviation. Late arrivals into London, England can trigger missed rail connections and coach departures, and that can force unplanned overnight stays, which tighten last minute hotel inventory near the airport, and in central London. Tours, event tickets, and timed attraction entries can fail when travelers arrive late, which is why the best mitigation is not just watching your flight, it is building slack into the whole ground plan, including buffers for baggage reclaim, and transfers.

For travelers mapping alternate plans, two related disruption primers may help. Europe December Strikes Hit Holiday Flights And Trains tracks how overlapping December walkouts can compound across modes. Spain Airport Handling Strike Days Through December 31 shows how ground handling slowdowns translate into queues and late bags even when flights continue to operate. If you end up switching airports or building an overnight buffer, London Travel Guide: The Ultimate 7-10 Day Itinerary for First-Time Visitors includes practical transfer context across London's airport network.