Which planes should I avoid?
 

Hi,

Usually, I feel safe when I fly LY, but with all the incidents lately, I start to ask me questions.
I will fly to Israel next winter, and I was wondering which a/c I have to choose.

On the way to TLV, I have the choice between the famous ELH and a 739. I would love to fly a 739, but the flight is much more expensive, and knowing LY, the 739 can become a 763 (as it happens all the times...), or the 739 flight could be cancelled and merge with the ELH flight, so I would pay more for nothing :D

On the way back to France, I have the choice between a 772 and a 763. The 772 flight is more expensive, and knowing LY, the 772 can become a 763 :D

I will fly in Y

Your thoughts?
I want to fly LY because I want nonstop flights, and AF is much more expensive.

You are absolutely correct to feel the way that you do. Despite what a small minority of posters may write on this board, the fact remains that with a fleet of less than 40 a/c, LY seems to have too many tech incidents. Personally, I do not feel the airline is safe anymore and will not fly EL AL unless some serious changes take place.

Based on the reviews of 4X-ELH I would avoid that a/c along with all the 763's and even the 744's. Try to stick with the newer a/c like the 772's and 739's.

To say the truth, I feel unsafe on every airlines lately: AF manages to crash a plane every 5 years, LY has too many incidents, UA has major delays due to major technical problems (I heard they are saving money on maintenance...), SQ had a lot of problems of their A380s this year, TAP had a terrible Summer (a lot of emergency landings...)...


Concerning ELH, I noticed on LY website that it is no longer listed as "Boeing 747-400 "but as "Boeing 747 All Series Passenger "

It seems that even the new 739s are suffering mechanical failures.

Last night's MUC-TLV flight arrived this afternoon following a 13 hour delay due to a problem with the 739. Staff were great, but still, it's yet another mechanical failure on El Al.

Wow: 13 hour delay!
At least, it was not an emergency landing

Well I never thought I would see the day... ;)

I realise you don't have much of a choice if you want to travel direct, and they don't call AF "Air Chance" for nothing...

If you do decide you don't mind connecting, you might want to try BA - excellent safety reputation, and I personally find their pilots incredibly reassuring and informative at times when the ride becomes rough (something LY pilots are useless at).

No, I don't like connections...
I don't want a 4-hour flight to become a 10-hour journey with a 1-year old baby ;)

Although there was a issue in parts of the Israeli media, that the only sandwiches served were with pork.

It's also very telling given that these planes are less than a year old.

Every airlines can have issues with new planes.
LY has do many incidents because their fleet is old. I don't think that it's due to a poor maintenance.
Which airline doesn't have issues with old 767s and 747s?

This summer, I flew a 29 year old Hawaiian 763 on OGG-OAK. Guess what? The following day, the plane made an emergency landing...

You're right, any airline can have issues with new planes and you are also right that older planes have more m/x issues and poorer dispatch reliability. However, when taking into account the totality of the circumstances, EL AL with a fleet of less than 40 a/c seems to have m/x issues on a regular basis with both their old and new planes. Consequently, at minimum there is an appearance, on the surface, that EL AL may have poor maintenance.

Don't they understand that the money they save on m/x (if they indeed save money on m/x) is lost when they have these huge delays?

That's a question you would have to pose directly to the management and current owners. This situation is not that uncommon. Most financially stagnant and ailing airlines have aging fleets and seemingly large m/x issues proportional to their fleet sizes.

Finally, I have picked the 744 flight with ELH :)

It is going to be harder and harder to fly the 744 as many operators are withdrawing them, so it was a good occasion :) . Furthermore, the 739 has a strong chance to be replaced by a 763.

I flew ELH last Thursday, and it was not so bad. It is not worst than LY other 744s.
The flight was FULL.

Do you Know the config of the plane?