nombody

https://www.click2houston.com/news/t...trip-to-israel

It seems United didn't handle the problems with the storm so well either for their passengers, in this case a religious Christian group.

mikebg

As I posted earlier, in a speculative vein, it now turns out that EL AL really are taking advantage of their passengers. Yes, they are giving them a free flight from TLV to Europe, which is worth precisely ZERO to passengers whose journey began in New York and not in Israel. The tickets must include a weekend, are not upgradable, and are dependant on available space in O class. Wonderful for passengers travelling in First or Business, isn't it?

joshwex90

Correct, fixed the typo.

Even if LY were to make such a claim, it's still on them to prove that the circumstances were out of their control, beyond reasonable expectations, and unavoidable. If they claim that initially, the response is that other airlines made it on time. If they say their hotel was farther, there are a few possible responses which center around, "Why was your hotel farther?" "Could you not have moved closer anticipating weather?" "Could you have made it even with a farther hotel by leaving earlier?"

skywalkerLAX

Could the 400 other pax claim their own expenses from you if the flight is being delayed or god beware cancelled as a result of one passenger demanding to be brought back to the gate? That would be an extremely costly exercise.

Also, did LY violate DOT tarmac rules here? How did the passengers get off in Athens assuming not everybody had a Schengen Visa or eligible passport for visa free entry?

joshwex90

Considering the flight was on LY and a direct flight between USA and Israel, the likelihood is that everyone on that flight had passports from countries that wouldn't require a visa (Israel and US are most likely, but even Canada, potentially some from Mexico and Latin American countries with decent ties to Israel)

joshwex90

In this case, a different issue entirely. They canceled the tickets and then rebooked them home instead of on a later flight to Israel. At least with LY, they made it to Israel, 36 hours late.

skywalkerLAX

The likelihood that "everyone" had passports allowing visa free entry to the Schengen states is close to zero. Each flight has a few odds out passengers with exotic passports. It's always interesting to study the passenger lists of crashed planes for example and there you see the different nationalities.

Dovster

Nope. Jewish tradition requires a man to make love to his wife on Friday nights. That is why the pilot was in a hurry to get back home.

joshwex90

You're right about oddities and yet I stand by my statement. The odds were actually quite high. Considering the strictness of entry to Israel, and certainly as perceived by tourists, people on an EL AL flight are passengers who have right of entry to Israel. That means people who are Israeli citizens, have automatic visas upon arrival, or advance visas.

The first 2 groups automatically have the right to enter Schengen.

The 3rd group is broken into those who would have right of entry or wouldn't. The ones who wouldn't don't originate in any of the regions near there, so again, the only real way is if the person happened to have been in the US on a US visa (as it wouldn't have been a connecting flight as LY connections are to regions where people with visa rights live). So yes, the chance exists, but it's quite low. But this is a terrible digression.

skywalkerLAX

Considering the source of the initial problem in this situation (crew delay due to long ways to the airport) am I the only one who thinks that it's nuts when airlines accommodate their crews far far away from the airport in the city center, creating a lot of transit time? Especially in cities with notoriously bad traffic. Manhattan or Downtown LA are two such locations. Why not put these crews up at the airport??

HkCaGu

Airlines generally put crew near airport on overnight turns (e.g. 8-12 hours), but in town for longer rests. Long-haul pairings often have 24-60 hour rests and crew don't want to be stuck near the airport having nothing to do. Even if airports have good transport into town, airport-area hotels may not.