“Every Airline Does It” Isn’t Good Enough for EL AL
I purchased my EL AL ticket home from Israel to Los Angeles believing my reservation and additional seat payment were confirmed. I thought EL AL would ensure I flew on the nonstop flight I had paid for.
Hours before I ever left for the airport, I tried to check in through the app and was denied, with no explanation given. There was no indication at that point that anything was wrong, no message suggesting my seat was at risk, nothing telling me to arrive early or speak to an agent. I only found out something was wrong once I arrived at Ben Gurion Airport four hours before my flight, when the check-in attendant told me that despite having a confirmed reservation and an assigned seat, I was not actually guaranteed a place on the aircraft. The flight had been oversold, and I would have to wait until boarding to learn whether I would be allowed to fly or rerouted through Europe.
I demanded an explanation from the supervisors. Their response was immediate and rehearsed: “Every airline does it.”
I pushed back, “EL AL is not every airline, and to hold it to that standard is a disservice to the countless people flying with EL AL.”
My connection to EL AL extends beyond being a passenger. My grandfather spent more than thirty years working for the airline, and my father, aunts, uncles, and cousins worked there as well. I grew up seeing it as more than an airline, and its record backs that up: it flew Holocaust survivors and Jewish refugees to Israel, carried Ethiopian Jews to safety during Operations Moses and Solomon, and kept flying during wars when foreign carriers grounded their fleets. History explains why people trust EL AL.
Today, many Israelis and Jews are traveling under circumstances that are not ordinary. Since October 7, antisemitic incidents in Europe have risen sharply, and for many passengers flying out of Israel, a European connection is not a neutral inconvenience; it is a security concern. I chose EL AL’s nonstop specifically because I did not want to transit through Europe. When I asked what would happen if I didn’t make the flight, I was told I would likely be rerouted through Europe, with no guaranteed timing, because every other flight that day was also oversold. So the airline’s answer to “you may lose the seat you paid for” was “you may then be routed through the exact scenario you paid extra to avoid.”
While I waited to learn whether I even had a seat, I still had to check my baggage and clear security, yet no one explained how I was supposed to do that while my ability to board remained uncertain. Thirty minutes before departure, I was finally told I could fly.
Because I speak Hebrew, I was able to explain to security personnel why I needed to move past a fifty-person line to reach my gate in time. Another passenger in the same situation did not speak Hebrew. He stood in line, unsure of what to do, until he saw me and followed my lead.
EL AL serves passengers from around the world, many of whom do not speak Hebrew or know their way through Ben Gurion Airport. When an airline’s own mistake places passengers in that position, it should not leave them to navigate the airport on their own. They should receive clear instructions and assistance to ensure they can reach their flight. No passenger should have to rely on speaking Hebrew or on following another traveler to overcome a problem created by the airline itself.
I ultimately boarded. But a passenger flying out of Israel with a confirmed ticket and an assigned seat should not have to wait until boarding begins to learn whether the airline will honor that commitment, and should not be told, as the only contingency, that they’ll be rerouted through a region that has become a greater concern for the safety of Jews and Israelis.
Overbooking may be standard across the industry, but we are not in an ordinary situation or moment. This is a time of conflict and rising antisemitism, when passengers flying out of Israel are already carrying more stress than usual to get home or get anywhere safely. That is exactly when EL AL needs to rethink how it approaches overbooking, not fall back on an industry-wide excuse. If it wants to remain the airline that many passengers choose because they trust it to understand the realities they face, it should hold itself to a higher standard than simply saying, “every airline does it.”
