ZD – you state that “It takes a couple of hours to go through security and get your stuff”. I can tell you that most commuters or other frequent travelers take far shorter. I know that when I’m scheduled to land in Israel on Friday afternoon, I will not take checked luggage, so no wait there, and as an Israeli citizen with an electronic passport card, it takes me less than three minutes to clear passport control. As such, it’s generally 15 minutes or so from when the door of the plane opens until I’m outside, getting into the taxi I’ve pre-arranged to have waiting for me. Total time from when we land until I’m at home? Generally about an hour or so.
Based on the above, and given business requirements, I am OK with taking flights that are scheduled to land on Friday afternoon, though I always make contingency plans in case there are delays – whether in the US. in Europe when on a connecting flight, or in case we land in Israel close to Shabbos. B”H I’ve not had to use them yet (it’s been close, but I made it), but I know the risk of getting stuck and accept it. The main failure of El Al in this story is that they gave no or wrong information to passengers, thereby not enabling them to make informed choices – but to just say “how could anyone fly at 6:00 PM on a Thursday” is just ridiculous.
an Israeli Yid