El Al’s policy is not to fly on Shabbos, and in fact, the flight that was diverted to Athens did NOT fly on Shabbos (the other flight was given a Psak to continue). As long as one is prepared to be stuck in an airport over Shabbos if necessary, why should someone – who for various reasons, can not fly on Wednesday – not take a Thursday flight?
There are a significant number of Israelis who are “commuters” – their families are in Israel, while they work in the US (or Europe), who fly home for Shabbos every week. For people like that, leaving Wednesday is not an option. So please, don’t be so judgemental about the situation.
an Israeli Yid (who frequently flies on Thursday night, with emergency supplies in my hand luggage)