El Al Passengers Slam Ongoing Cancellations, Delays

El Al customers were up in arms – again – on Thursday night, as the airline canceled or delayed flights to a number of destinations. Flights to Toronto, Hong Kong, Beijing and other destinations were canceled altogether, while flights to Lisbon, Kiev, London (Luton) and other designations were delayed. A flight from London (Luton) to Tel Aviv was canceled as well.

The delays continued Friday, with a flight to Barcelona delayed by four and a half hours, while flights to Warsaw and Kiev were delayed by one or two hours. Several of the flights were code-share flights, which means that El Al may have to compensate passengers of other airlines on the flights it operates. The weekend delays joined other recent cancellations and delays, which customers have experienced on nearly a daily basis in recent weeks, Globes reported.

The airline has told passengers that the delays and cancellations were due to “operational issues.” The report said that a group of Israeli frequent flyers were preparing to bring a class-action lawsuit against the airline if the delays do not stop. According to Israeli law, El Al is required to compensate passengers only if a flight is canceled or delayed eight hours or more; according to rules applying to flights originating in Europe, compensation must be provided after three hours of delays. The lawsuit will demand that El Al observe the European standards on flights to Europe, the report said.