It’s happening again: disruptions at Ben Gurion Airport. The Israel Airport Authority (IAA) workers’ committee claims that the delays are minor, and are due to manpower shortages.
By early afternoon, one international flight had been cancelled, and another international flight was delayed at Ben Gurion, due to what IAA workers are calling a shortage of manpower, and IAA management is calling “disruptions.” Domestic flights are operating on schedule.
For some time now, IAA workers have been complaining of the heavy workload they have been carrying due to being short 150 workers. Recently, there were disruptions due to a shortage of manpower at security checkpoints. The workers claimed that IAA management did not prepare properly in terms of manpower for matters relating to the implementation of the new Hold Baggage Screening (HBS) system.
Because of this, an IAA labor dispute was declared in May, which was suspended after the Regional Labor Court called upon both sides to conduct intensive negotiations on the matter. Also in May the workers claimed that the disruptions were not planned, but rather were caused by an inability to operate properly due to a manpower shortage.
IAA workers’ committee chairman Pinchas Idan was unavailable for comment but his spokeswoman, Gali Gabbai, said: “The minor delays at Ben Gurion International Airport are caused by the high volume of passengers, and a shortage in manpower.”
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on July 3, 2014
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