Free Skies will mean these Losers will go down.

very bad this stike it tell the public dont buy el al flights i will stop flighing elal for along time so will a lot of people so wake up staff

EL AL has been there when all others ran away. The government should do all possible to prop up Israeli airlines and ensure that they can compete equally....without our own airline who can we rely on when things get tough...I remember 2003 KLM cancelled their flights to Israel.

& DREAMING OF CHICKEN SCHWARMA YA GO & PULL THIS ONE..

It seems that almost every time I have plans to visit Israel, the shmendricks at the airport think about a strike...Im supposed to be there in July, but will reconsider and use my $1800 credit, less change fees,, for another destination, one where I know that Ill be able to arrive and leave according to MY plans, and not some STRIKERS plans. These pinheads dont realize that, while they may not destroy tourism to Israel, they certainly aren't helping it!

Actually El Al Israel Airlines has made it to the 18th place on the World's Best Airlines survey conducted among the readers of popular travel magazine Travel + Leisure. I guess you could always fly Qatar Air votted best airline 2012. Naturally when they take you in to custody and hold you hostage you might just regret not having flown EL AL, i guess you and your ilk fly economy ( cattle class) , personally i always fly 1st classs EL AL.

in its field but it's the only airline i take abroad where i can sleep tight. as long as israel's security will not be at risk, open skies might be the answer to lousy service, extravagant rates and the riding public finally may travel at their convenience and not to the airlines'.

Neither my husband or I fly El Al. Lousy service and bad attitude lost them not only our business, but also, my husband's employees use other airlines for their business trips. El Al couldn't care less.

Best security in the world. And, our pilots know evasive maneuvers if need be.

....is that it is a victim of religious coercion. By not flying on Saturdays, it loses some 15% of its income. It is also the only airline in the world, in which you cannot get milk in your coffee.

because I want to support my national airline - however, it's come to a point where I feel like a sucker as people are buying tickets so much cheaper. Now, either ELAL can stop being greedy and get in line with other operators, or they are going to go under. It's called competition, and it's healthy and GOOD.

But due to the strike our flights were just moved to Air France... So who benefits from the strike?

The Israeli market for airline tickets is an oligopoly. Elal, as of now has an amazing fleet and crew, enhanced security... but their prices are way too high. Introducing Open Skies will force Elal to lower their prices because otherwise they would lose a share of the market. Is this really good? I believe that boosting competition is definitely a good aspect, however, I think competition should come from inside the Jewish state and not from outside. For example by allowing new Israeli entrants in the market would definitely pose a good threat for Elal that would (potentially) lead them to reduce their prices. The main difference would be that the "share of the market" that would be lost would anyway STAY WITHIN THE ISRAELI ECONOMY (Israeli crew, Israeli security....=> Jobs for Israel). On the other hand, if the government signed the open skies agreement this would have the disadvantage that airlines would start flying to Israel at very cheap fares (ex. Ryanair is not threatened by terrorists as Elal and does not require that much of security!). Elal would struggle to cope with this form of competition and would be driven out of the market. This would be really bad, because we all want an airline with a Magen David to exist. Bottom line: I would not sign this agreement and I would boost competition by lending money to new Israeli entrants. If there is a margin for profit, entrants will get in and will lower prices.

Hahahha aha haha!!!

I hope Katz does dot give in to those who suck our blood for decades. It is time to have open skies to Europe ,so we do not pay those crazy prices,EL-AL is dictating. There might be some job losses,but what about new jobs that will be created??Many more jobs! According to Eini and El-Al,other people do not have rights to new employment,the number of a country population should be limited because they want to protect the "privileged ones. It is time to fly to Rome or Vienna for $180 return like anywhere else,not $540!!!

Open competition would force improvement in El Al and other airlines. El Al suffers from a hugely outdated management structure and staff on long-term contracts who can get away with doing very little, protected; while new, fresh staff work very hard for tiny salaries and are fired after 5 year contracts. El Al is top heavy and needs to be leaner and more balanced. The ticket sales section treats its staff like slaves, paying them nothing and promoting aggresive sycophants into leadership positions instead of hardworking, well-trained, top sales staff. The current way El Al operates is ridiculous and unteneable, long-term.

All these people with time on their hands, yet they know better how to run an airline. If any of them were half as cleaver as they think they are, ELAL would be world no 1 Airline.

Isn't it about time that you realised that for the last few years El Al has been a private company and not a National Carrier.

Dennis, as you live in New Jersey, why not just fly with United or Delta to this country, (You'll even get change from your $1800) or are you just using the El Al provocative strike as a feeble excuse why you will not come here. Shame on you.

who of those European "Jew lovers" is taking responsibility for security at check in and passenger roster ? Every nut job who has a vendetta with us will be in the first flight.

"..And, our pilots know evasive maneuvers if need be.." You made my day!!:-))Your comment remind me old anecdote when someone asked a child where the milk comes from, his response was"from Tnuva".You are a winner of 2013 Darwin Award!! :-))

Let me get this straight. The employees are striking to protect the 3 Israel airlines by causing them millions in damages by cancelling flights. Logical?