El Al forced to cancel more flights as pilots step up pressure

Israel’s national carrier El Al was again forced to cancel or delay international flights on Wednesday, after pilots refused to show up amid an ongoing labor dispute over working conditions.

Tel Aviv flights LY075 to Hong Kong and LY095 to Beijing were canceled, flights LY027 and LY001 to New York with planes and crew leased from other airlines, and flight LY029 to Toronto was delayed until Thursday morning.

El Al says its pilots are still intentionally holding up flights in order to pressure the company to meet what it says are impossible demands. The pilots’ union criticized the airline management and accused its leaders of making decisions that were harmful to the company’s employees.

Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz called upon the company to end its dispute in order to protect the integrity of the company and ensure that passengers still choose to fly with an Israeli airline.

Avi Nissenkorn, chairman of the Histadrut labor federation, said that negotiations between El Al and its pilots will continue on Sunday, according to Israel Radio.

A series of flights on Monday were also canceled or delayed and, last week, the airline was forced to cancel four flights in and out of Ben Gurion International Airport due to the dispute.

On Monday, some 1,000 El Al workers 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 placed the blame on 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.

“We are making every necessary effort in order to resolve this matter so that we return to flying you to every destination on time, with complete devotion and with the highest levels of safety.”