El Al flight to Boston canceled amid ongoing labor dispute

Israel’s national carrier El Al canceled an international flight to the US on Saturday, after pilots refused to show up amid an ongoing labor dispute.

A flight from Tel Aviv to Boston was canceled Saturday night and two flights to New York departed with planes and crew leased from other airlines, according to Israel Radio.

El Al’s management has accused pilots of intentionally holding up flights in order to pressure the company to meet what it says are impossible demands on working conditions. The pilots’ union has criticized the airline management for making decisions it says are unreasonable and harmful to the company’s employees.

Last week, the airline was forced to cancel flights in and out of Ben Gurion International Airport due to the dispute. Some 1,000 El Al workers also took part in an emergency protest outside the company’s management building over the expected dismissal of hundreds of employees in the coming year.

A spokeswoman for the workers, Ayelet Kedar, told the crowd: “The management needs to sell tickets and not [sell out] the workers. We will not agree to be invisible.”

In a recent statement on its website, El Al apologized for the disruptions and blamed the pilots. “In the last several days many of you have experienced difficulties with some of our flights. We sincerely apologize from the bottom of our hearts.

“The disagreements with the company’s pilots have resulted in sanctions that have a negative impact on our passengers in order to put pressure on the company, its management and employees,” it said.