El Al Stock Sags in Pilot Strife

El Al sought to downplay the financial impact of the bitter dispute with its pilots on Monday, informing the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange that costs incurred by flight cancellations were not significant, Globes reported.

The airline issued a statement aimed at deflecting the bad impression made on shareholders by the decline in its share price of 5 percent in the past week and 10 percent over the past month.

Although El Al acknowledged that “the consequences of the disruptions – beyond the harm to El Al’s reputation – are higher operating expenses, mainly because of leasing of aircraft, increased wage expenses, and various costs arising from flight cancellations, as well as a decline in revenue from tickets,” none of it was on a scale that would materially affect the company’s financial soundness.