Israeli airlines strikebound over open skies

El Al, Arkia, and Israir's employees claim the Transport Ministry concealed a report on the risk of the airlines' collapse.

Israel's airlines - El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL), Arkia Airlines Ltd., and Israir Airlines and Tourism Ltd., went on strike today, following the government's decision to discuss the open skies agreement with the EU at today's cabinet meeting, without prior coordination with the airlines. The Histadrut (General Federation of Labor in Israel) says that the strike is unlimited.

The airlines' employees claim that a Ministry of Transport report, which states that there is a real risk of the collapse of the airlines, has been concealed from the public and from government ministers, thereby misleading the government. This is not a new report, but an internal Ministry of Transport report written some time ago, which examined the consequences of a collapse of an Israeli airline following the open skies agreement. The report also examined various scenarios in which El Al might collapse without any connection to the open skies agreement. In such a case, a possible nationalization of El Al was considered.

Last night, Histadrut chairman Ofer Eini called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "I turn to you at this fateful hour with an urgent call to the Israeli government and all the ministers to avoid making difficult and destructive decisions without a thorough discussion and on the basis of missing and misleading information, about approving the open skies agreement."

Eini called on Netanyahu to begin organized and serious talks on this material national issue, and to listen to and cooperate with all the parties involved through negotiations to protect the rights of Israel's civil aviation workers and to ensure the continued existence of Israel's airlines.

At 10 am today, hundreds of El Al, Arkia, and Israir employees will hold a demonstration outside the cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

Before the strike began at 5 am, a decision taken to bring forward to 4 am all departing international and domestic flights by El Al, Arkia, and Israir from Ben Gurion Airport. The Israel Airports Authority announced the airlines' decision to bring forward 11-13 flights.

Last night, the Economic Organizations Liaison Committee announced that it supports the government, and that the open skies agreement should be approved. "The agreement is good for the economy and will contribute to the tourism, industry, trade, and services, and will created jobs in the periphery while lowing ticket prices for Israelis travelling abroad," said Economic Organizations Liaison Committee chairman Zvi Oren.

On Friday, Minister of Finance Yair Lapid and Minister of Transport Yisrael Katz met to discuss the Ministry of Transport's budget, but also discussed the open skies agreement. Sources inform ''Globes'' that Lapid promised that he would support Katz on the agreement at Sunday's cabinet meeting.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on April 21, 2013

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2013

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