More than 50 chareidi passengers who were on board an El Al flight from New York City to Tel Aviv in November 2018 are suing the airline for not being permitted to get off of the plane in NY despite fears of Chilul Shabbos. Once the airline realized the severity of the situation, passengers were permitted to get off the flight in Athens to avoid landing in Tel Aviv after Shabbos. In an attempt to compensate the passengers, El Al gave them a round-trip ticket to any European destination.
News12 reports that 52 of the chareidi passengers who were on board the flight are now suing the airline over the so-called ‘Shabbos flight’, citing the irresponsible actions of the airline that led to the situation that left them stranded in Athens. They are seeking nearly $14,000 in damages for each of the passengers that got off the plane.
[FAKE NEWS EXPOSED: Watch How Channel 10 Changed Video of SINGING El Al Passengers to “SCREAMING”]
El Al first blamed “chareidi violence” on the flight for the delay, but this was learned to be fake news as reported by YWN-Israel. News10 released by El Al to show the chareidi violence was edited to make it appear the chareidi passengers were acting violently and assaulted the flight crew, when in fact, it was learned the entire story was fabricated by the airline and the passengers were actually singing.
In the lawsuit, it is alleged that members of the flight crew were late for the flight and this caused the delay in takeoff. Nevertheless, passengers who wanted to get off the plane were assured the flight would touch down in Tel Aviv before Shabbos, but this was not the case.
180 passengers were forced to spend Shabbos in a hotel in Athens, a facility that was only capable of accommodating 50 people. In addition, they were left without clothing for Shabbos or any change of clothing, with passengers compelled to share rooms.
It is also pointed out that 13 minutes following takeoff from JFK Airport, their arrival time in Tel Aviv was changed to after candle lighting time in Tel Aviv, attorney Asher Rothbaum explains in the suit. He explains that El Al could have minimized the damage by having the plane turn around and head back to JFK. He explains the chareidi passengers wanted to spend Shabbos in Tel Aviv, not Athens, and not wearing the same clothing for three days.
El Al responds saying it operates according to the law and it has received the lawsuit and an official legal response will be issued.
[MAILBAG: El Al Should “Man Up”, Stop LYING, And Take Responsibility – Here Is Why]
[MAILBAG: An Open Letter To El Al About An Incredible “Shabbos Of Unity” In Athens]
(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
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12 Responses
2 pieces of advice:-
1) to El Al:- Counter sue these passengers for violating Halocho of traveling too close to Shabbos.
2) to these passengers:- Keep your suing for miscreants like Ukraine Airlines who steal, and let El Al get on with their excellent work.
147 – spot on.
“Hatzileini nu miyad ochi meyad eisav” our brothers that hate the religious can be our biggest enemies. ELAL acted in a very disgusting manner (by lying about returning to the gate to get all the passengers in their seats and then using the opportunity to quickly take off) and they should be ready to bear the full consequences.
147, I agree that Ukranian Airlines should be sued as well however that doesn’t correct ElAl’s behavior
Between 10% – 15% of that flight was “charedi”. The vast majority were שומרי תורה ומצוות from all walks of life. I was on that flight.
Lying and besmirching is all within the law and considered “excellent work”…
Can I sue chareidim who :
A. Delay my flight because they don’t like their seat or stand and schmooze and keep overhead bins open and ignore requests to take their seats
B. Block aisles and access to bathrooms because they have to daven
Simple solution is to delay the start of shabbos ( like a ball game ) for a few hours to accommodate those wanting to leave their continent mere hours before game time .
to all the losers above they asked to get off their flight and were lied too. thats why they are suing
147, there is no such halocho. Stop making things up. And they were not traveling “too close” to Shabbos; they were due to land 4 hours before Shabbos, which should be plenty of time for unforeseen delays. When a ground delay (caused entirely by the negligence of El Al staff, who did not leave for the airport in good time) cut that margin uncomfortably thin, they did the right thing and asked to get off the plane.
In case anyone’s wondering, there is a halocho that if you are traveling on Erev Shabbos, and the people at your destination are not expecting you, then you must stop at noon and start preparing for Shabbos where you are. You can’t show up on your doorstep an hour before Shabbos when nothing has been prepared for you.
This halocho became almost completely irrelevant when the telegram ushered in the era of instant communications, and is even more irrelevant now in the cell phone era, when your family knows exactly where you are and when to expect you, and is preparing for you.
It has nothing to do with the possibility of unexpected delays. It’s only common sense not to cut things to the minute, and to set out with a reasonable margin for delays, but that is not a halocho.
There’s also El Al’s sheer stupidity in assuming that anyone who trusts the kashrus of the regular El Al meals must be OK with flying on Shabbos. They only reserved hotel rooms for the 50 passengers who’d ordered mehadrin meals, but 180 refused to fly on Shabbos, so there was a shortage.