El Al caves to ultra-Orthodox threats, retracts blame for flight fiasco
Following an outrageous incident in which a flight was forced to land in Greece to avoid the Sabbath, Israel's national carrier El Al has backed down from identifying ultra-Orthodox passengers as the cause of the commotion for fear of a boycott.
The ultra-Orthodox have a long history of disagreements with Israel's national air carrier. El Al lost big in the latest conflict, suffering both economic and image losses in Israeli companies' ongoing dilemma with the religious-Orthodox market.
A summary of events: The takeoff of an El Al flight from New York to Israel that was supposed to land at Ben-Gurion Airport at noon on Friday, Nov. 15, was delayed because of a snowstorm on the East Coast of the United States. The ultra-Orthodox passengers who asked to get off the flight for fear it would land in Israel after the start of the Sabbath on Friday evening were reassured that despite the delay they would land well before the start of the Sabbath. During the flight it became clear that the plane would land just before the Sabbath began, meaning that the ultra-Orthodox passengers, who do not use transportation on the Sabbath, would have little or no time to get home. An uproar broke out on the plane, and though there are multiple versions as to the nature and essence of this commotion, the flight attendants and many passengers attested that ultra-Orthodox passengers became violent toward the staff.
