Separate probes to look into causes of airport snarl

Following Thursday’s temporary halt of operations at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport, Transportation Minister Miri Regev’s office announces that she has ordered an inquiry into the circumstances that led to the chaos at the country’s main gateway.

The Transportation Ministry describes the probe as external but does not provide  details about who will undertake the inquiry or what its goals or timeline are.

Ben Gurion Airport was thrown into bedlam on Thursday after a two-hour wildcat strike triggered hours of delays and flight cancellations, though labor figures have denied ordering a strike and say mismanagement of the airport led to rampant overcrowding and understaffing, triggering the shutdown of operations.

Separately, the Israel Airports Authority announces it formed an internal review committee to examine the sequence of events that led to the “crisis” at Ben Gurion Airport on Thursday. The internal committee will be headed by the Israel Airports Authority’s internal auditor, assisted by an independent professional, the authority announces in a statement.

The committee has been instructed to reach preliminary findings by the end of this week, the authority adds.