Transportation minister backs down from ‘open skies’ plan

Israeli airlines announced a labor dispute Monday afternoon, prompting Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz to freeze a planned agreement with European Union carriers.

The announcement allows the companies to strike in two weeks.

All three airlines operating from Israel — El Al, Israir and Arkia — are protesting the recent decision in principle by the Transportation Ministry to sign an “open skies” treaty with the EU.

The treaty would lift flight restrictions to and from Israel. The move is intended to increase competition and lower the prices of air travel.

The sides will hold talks during the next two weeks. In response to Katz’s decision to delay the signing of the treaty, El Al union head Asher Edri said he was pleased but that the issue wasn’t yet solved. Edri added that he would do “whatever it takes” to safeguard workers’ jobs.

Union representatives claim the move was being done unilaterally, without taking the workers into consideration. According to Maariv, union heads estimate that up to 25,000 workers could lose their jobs and that others would face drastic salary cuts.

Israeli airlines have higher security costs than most airlines, which would prevent them from lowering their prices to compete with foreign carriers, Edri explained.

Katz said keeping the Israeli carriers viable was his responsibility, adding he was trying to allow them to compete “on the same terms” as other companies.