It has been a difficult week for El Al as pilots are continuing their job actions, compelling the canceling of a number of flights daily. The airline has been refunding the cost of tickets to angry passengers, some of whom were stranded in airports for hours as a result of the pilots announcing they refuse to fly at the last moment before takeoff.

One of the options being considered is a complicated legal procedure by which El Al planes would be leased to other carriers, whose pilots to operate the flights. While the pilot’s union insists management is not being forthcoming and that they are sorely underpaid compared to other airlines, senior El Al officials insist this is not so, adding matters pertaining to some of the grievances were already addressed in a collective bargaining agreement which pilots seem to ignore.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)