Here's a monopoly, you can't break it! We want you to pay more for air tickets. Tnuva and Elite are next - you can't pay less for cottage or chocolate bars. Don't you dare, Israelis. Support the striking guys, pay more!

i was qouted 1700 $ for a one way ticket to new york on el al.after shopping around i found a one way to new york and a return to israel from san francisco all for 1500$.not hard to understand why they do not want competition .

Traveling should be affordable, it's all about seeing the world and visiting loved ones, it should be made more AFFORDABLE .

No wonder you paid more. One-way tickets are always more expensive. 99% it's even cheaper to buy a normal ticket and then just cancel the return flight if necessary. That fact doesn't have anything to do with El Al. Regarding El Al: without any exception El Al was always more expensive to at least European destinations. Could the higher prices be justified because of the extra security or not?

Phasing in not sudden death - where is open debate. New government show lack of sensitivity and perhaps signs of immaturity. Dealing a major employer with-out open debate and placing finding on the table. Not allowing management time to plan for change and generate coping strategies seems amazing and tending to be irresponsible. This type of governing by edict could make El Al a bad employer and subject to expensive claims for loss of income. Its not clear that there was a financial emergency here. The Air line has already done some price cutting and deals on fares to compete with the open market. I would suggest a one year phasing in to placate unions and staff and allow some initiates to be developed by the carriers in advance of the change. Seichel ???

Bibi be like Reagan....fire them all.

"..and subject to expensive claims for loss of income..." Claims based on what??

Until now I bought only El Al. Starting today I"ll never fly with El Al. Never again!

Please let common sense prevail, and the El Al notification of cancelling all flights until further notice becomes AD INFINITUM. To say that IAA is coming out on strike is incorrect, it is not the management which is causing the strike, but a snotty nosed individual, whose sole aim in life is to destroy the State of Israel. Aini = Ahmedinijad.

It is high time that the Histadrut union be busted. It should be illegal that they can strike for whatever reason and bring the country to its knees.

Once again we are held hostage as a nation by the Histrdrut,this time they side with EL Al against the consumer. We the people of ISrael need to stop this once and for all, we should boycott El Al on mass,and also Strike in front of Histadrut office to show our displeasure with their meddling once again.

walls of dining rooms at the kibbutzim.... So Yair Chavez has dissapointed you already? I agree with Bob: they've burried Margaret Thatcher too hastily!

I agree with above posters that, like Reagan, Bibi or whoever should fire all the strikers and replace them with people who want to work. We need to join the Open Skies treaty and lower prices. And, lastly, IMHO, the Israeli govt should consider funding the increased security costs that are involved with travel to and from Israel, or ... Add that on to e ticket price, but ensure that it's on all ticket prices of all carriers, to keep the playing field even. Not sure if this is feasible, but... It's a solution.. Travel taxes throughout Europe are uneven, with health row being very expensive, and that cost is added to each person using LHR.

It is about time that an open sky policy was implemented. It is good for competition, El Al is not that bad but has a lot to learn about service from a lot of airlines and so does Israir, on the other hand, Arkia is the worst airline ever. If israeli companies will improve their service and will put every "Chutzpah" Israeli who think he can do everything he wants on the plane on his place, people would be flying more with local airlines instead of European airlines. For El Al, Arkia and Israir, you should this as an opportunity to improve, at the long run you will be the one who benefits from this. On the mean time, I rather fly with an European airline.

All flights out of ISrael have the same security measures no matter the carrier,as for flights into ISrael even those have different security measures than non ISrael flights. At Shippol in Amsterdam for ex all flights to Israel no matter the airline are kept away from other flights and have armed guards posted out side the passenger area.

The same people who are striking pay 10 % of the normal price of a ticket to fly to most destinations-

Unions may have a legitmate purpose for uniting employees with a single voice to obtaining fair contracts, work conditions, etc. Extorting the government (and the consumers) like this is BLACKMAIL (which is a serious crime in most nations). It only hurts the employees as well as consumers and fosters division. A house divided cannot stand.