El Al doesn’t operate flights on Shabbos, but they do operate flights that land close to Shabbos and take off shortly after Shabbos.
El Al had a number of high profile diversions in 2018 that I wrote about:
- Here’s How El Al Circumvents Shabbos Flight Restrictions
- El Al Diverts Flight 8 From JFK To Tel Aviv, Shamefully Flies Passengers Far Too Close To Shabbos And Strands Them At Athens Airport
- Reader Question: Does El Al Owe Compensation For The Flight 8 Diversion? [El Al Responds: No, We Do Not]
- The Captain Of El Al’s Flight #002 Lied To And Tricked His Own Passengers; It’s Time To Realize The Risks Of Taking These Flights
- Did El Al Invent Charedi Violence To Shift The Blame Away From The Airline’s Mistakes? A Timeline And The ATC Audio Where El Al Receives Permission To Return To The Gate
- After Lawsuit Is Filed, El Al CEO Admits There Was No Physical Violence On Flight #002
- Looking Into The Positive Side Of The El Al Flight #002 Fiasco: An Inspirational Shabbos, Thanks To Chabad Of Athens
- El Al Is Sending A New Plane To Take Diverted Passengers From Goose Bay Air Force Base To Tel Aviv
- El Al Flight 1008 Has Just Taken Off From Goose Bay To Tel Aviv; Listen To The Audio Of The El Al Mayday Call!
- With El Al, What’s Good For The Goose Isn’t Good For The Gander; How El Al Managed To Anger Everyone On Flight 8
If you do observe Shabbos, hopefully you know the risks of Friday arrivals on El Al. But even if you don’t observe Shabbos, you probably know by now that you should avoid Friday El Al flights as these are the most likely to be diverted. They aren’t diverted because of protesting Ultra-Orthodox Jews as some media outlets would have you believe, as those Jews would have preferred to exit the flight before it departed. They’re diverted because El Al is not allowed to operate passenger flights on Shabbos.
El Al always prefers to get the plane back to Israel on Shabbos so that it can operate the return flight from Israel after Shabbos. That’s why they don’t let passengers off the plane even after lengthy delays on the tarmac as they would rather divert to Athens and then ferry the plane back empty to Israel on Shabbos so that they don’t need to cancel the Saturday night flight from Tel Aviv.
However I’ve never noticed El Al sale fares that are only valid for Friday travel until today.
A reader tipped us off to a $379 bargain from Tel Aviv to Johannesburg:
As I was researching valid dates I noticed that the sale appeared to only be valid for Friday departures from Tel Aviv, arriving into Johannesburg on Friday afternoon:
And sure enough, Expert Flyer confirms that the sale is only valid for Friday departures:
I don’t see any other El Al sale fares that have a Friday restriction, but perhaps that’s how El Al plans to fill seats on more of these risky flights in the future?
It might look like a deal, but as Big Gedalia Goomber would say…
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30 Comments On "El Al Is Testing Out Sale Fares That Are Only Valid For Friday Flights"
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Lol El AL probably hates you
Why would they hate him? There are plenty of Orthodox Jews who appear comfortable to take flights with the expected landing time 2-3 hours before candle-lighting. Some have been burned in the past, and promised they won’t fly that Friday itinerary again while others would be glad to take additional risks in the future. Non-Orthodox travelers (non-sabbath observant) are likely fine landing 10 minutes before candle-lighting.
El Al promise to land on time
If it’s the weather than I understand but if the crew is late,it’s their fault.
Promises don’t go very far, even with natural causes – like weather. It’s up to the customer to make sure to account for any reasonably likely scenario that would involve chilul Shabbos.
They probably do.
I’ve interviewed 2 of their executives off the record, but got shot down when trying to publish the transcripts.
C’est la vie.
I don’t see the point in going to an interview that is primarily focused to paint a more positive image of the company that is acting very greedy in some cases.
The interviews revealed both positive and negative aspects.
Israelis involved in PR, don’t realize that many times what they think its positive PR, just reinforces many old stereotypes and actually hurts them much more than it helps them. Especially ELAL, you would think after all these years, they would hire an American or European CEO who can change the culture and personify a different view, but the culture will never change.
La vie
El Al’s idea of Purim humor?
I actually LOL’ed thinking this was a Purim joke
the Sat nite return leaves JNB @945 which is very tight
I guess that makes this the 2nd article this week that is true, but could pass for a Purim joke. Sometimes truth is funnier than fiction 😀
https://www.dansdeals.com/points-travel/airlines/airline-news/no-united-isnt-flying-737-max-just-777-identifying-737-max/
I think it’s a direct insult to elal that they can’t sell seats on such flights
Dan, awaiting your article about the new Israel-Chicago routes!
Why wait? I’ve already posted it twice.
https://www.dansdeals.com/airfare-deals/israel-flights/globes-el-al-will-launch-chicago-tel-aviv-service-2020/
Whoops, I must’ve missed that article 🙂
Why would you not publish the interview? You don’t owe ELAL anything….
They were off the record.
What is the point of such an interview?
I learned a lot.
But the hope was get their PR folks to sign off on publishing them.
Watchout. This fare does NOT include bags as ELAL has pulled free bags on this route!
They probably don’t want to risk being responsible for people carrying on Shabbos!
I was on that flight and if the crew would come on time like all the passengers and not stay in their hotel because of their ‘union “agreement we would land on time at least 4:30 hours before Shabbat.
its high time (pun intended) that some charedim step up to the plate and start an airline to tel aviv that will
A)treat its customers the way they should be treated not taken for granted (which el-al doesnt do)
B)be sensitive to the needs of the charedi public when it comes to shabbos (which EL-AL is at best grossly negligent or ignores completely )
C)listen to complaints and try adjusting accordingly (again when looking at el-als record the customer is always wrong ,always at fault,customers always act obnoxious its never the crews fault)
we each have had our experiences with EL-AL whether when it comes to davening or congregating near the galleys (of course according to halacha you can daven in your seat) i find it puzzling that UNITED over all is much more sensitive and understanding towards religion then ELAL is
UNTIL EL-AL FEELS THE HEAT = $$$$ THEY WONT CHANGE money talks (** walks)
as someone whos involved in the industry the #’s are their passenger wise and business wise their is room for another airline with direct daily service to tel-aviv
many business class passengers are very unhappy with the fish tail narrow seating on the new dreamliner so another airline with more comfortable seats would perhaps sifon off
business class passengers as well
That endeavor was tried out in the past, the frum airline was called “Tower Air”. Needless to say, it had failed….
Unfortunately they did not keep Shabbat.
The Charedi public could opt to follow Halacha and not embark on a journey so close to shabbos. Sorry, anyone who boards a plane scheduled to arrive after Chatzos on Friday does so at their own risk in violation of Halacha.
In the Athens case, all the passengers consciously boarded that flight after the 1st delay to arrive 2 hours before shabbos best-case scenario. Any of them could have declined to board and spend shabbos in NY.
Many drum passengers journey this flight. It usually arrives a few hours before Shabbos. You can also take the Gautrain for $10 direct into Sandton CBD or to Rosebank where you’ll be much closer to any Jewish neighborhoods avoiding Friday tra. Both options are around 15 minutes express on a comfortable train ride. There’s a Chabad House across the Sandton station where most world-class hotels are situated as well.
I always thought his name was “Goomberg”! Unless that’s just the Uncle Moishy version. I have a son with that name, and this song is everyone’s first reaction to hearing his name 🙂
Lol, definitely Goomber