A United Airlines flight from Tel Aviv to New York was supposed to depart from Ben Gurion Airport on Saturday at 11:30 am. Passengers were told that due to technical problems their flight would be delayed by a few hours, yet a few hours became over 24 hours and now the flight is only set to depart at 10:30 pm on Sunday – leaving passengers to spend the first night of the Jewish New Year at the airport.
Danielle Vardi arrived at Ben Gurion Airport with her partner on Saturday: "We checked in and were told the flight would be delayed by one hour, then at 12:30 pm they called everyone and said there were technical difficulties and that the flight was cancelled.
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"We had to go through passport control again; we took our luggage and were told the flight would leave on Sunday at 1:30 pm."
Passengers waiting at BG-Airport (Photo: Danielle Vardi)
Passengers who live far away and could not get home were put up in hotels, but when they checked out Sunday morning they received news – the flight had been postponed again, to 6 pm. "We heard everything through the rumor mill, there was no airline official available to give us a clear picture of what was happening," Vardi said.
Passengers claimed that they were told that the flight would eventually leave at 10:30 pm "it is very disappointing and annoying," she added.
- Vardi noted: "We made reservations for a holiday dinner in Manhattan and we won't make it. We paid for two nights at a hotel, one night is already lost. We understand that mishaps happen I wouldn't want to board a plane with malfunctions but they could have managed the whole affair in a more dignified manner."
United airlines said in response: "We are doing our utmost to fix the problem. The passengers were taken care of and those who needed a hotel, were transferred to one.
"At 4 pm a flight is arriving with technicians and a part which should fix the problem. As soon as the problem is fixed the plane will depart for its destination. "