Ben Gurion Needs Holiday Flight Cuts, Airport Union Chief Warns

Pinchas Idan, chairman of the Israel Airports Authority workers’ committee, said Ben Gurion Airport is short roughly 400 workers and cannot recruit enough staff before the holiday travel period. He said baggage handlers were assigned 12- or 13-hour shifts, and 12 of about 150 workers left a recent shift after reporting exhaustion. Idan denied ordering a strike, blamed airport management for closing operations and said he plans to petition the Labor Court over the extended shifts. He warned the airport cannot meet the holiday flight schedule without reducing flights; operations had returned to normal, without unusual queues or delays, at publication time.