Dim Amor

Two petitions for class action lawsuits were filed this week against Israel's leading airlines, El Al and Air Haifa, alleging misconduct toward their customers who were stranded abroad due to flight cancellations during the war with Iran. The petitions accuse both companies of breaching commitments to their customers and causing severe economic damage to tens of thousands of passengers.

The petition against El Al was filed on Thursday to the Central District Court in Lod, following Operation "Am Kalvia" and the cancellation of flights starting June 13. The petitioner, a lawyer by training, claims that the airline violated an explicit commitment it gave to its customers regarding rescue flights. According to him, El Al repeatedly promised that it would assign its customers to flights automatically according to their original flight date, and that only after all customers whose flights were canceled were assigned to rescue flights would ticket sales open to the general public.

The petitioner, represented by attorneys Aharon Tofer and Gal Rosenfeld from the Tofer-Rosenfeld firm, purchased a flight ticket from Boston to Israel for June 26, 2025. His flight was canceled on June 21 due to airspace closure and he registered for a rescue flight according to the company's instructions. According to him, within the framework of the June 16 announcement about canceling regular flights, the company announced the opening of registration for rescue flights for its customers and Sun d'Or customers whose flights were canceled. The company clarified that the order of registration on the website was not important and that customer priority would be determined with preference given according to their original flight date.

However, according to the petition, on June 25, while the petitioner was waiting for assignment to a rescue flight, he was shocked to discover that El Al published on its Facebook page that ticket sales for regular flights had opened for the general public. Company customers who had not yet been assigned to rescue flights were required to contact the service center for assignment to an alternative flight. The petitioner claims he waited more than two hours for a representative at the service center without response, in order to clarify why he had not received any assignment to a rescue flight.

Against this background, the petitioner understood that if he did not hurry and order flight tickets for his family on the company's website, his return to Israel would be significantly delayed. He claims that severe economic damages would be caused to him given the fact that he was required to vacate his apartment by June 30. The petitioner managed to locate flight tickets from Boston to Israel on June 29 for approximately $650 per ticket, but the transaction was not completed because El Al's website crashed, apparently due to the rush of many bookers to the site following the company's announcement.

When the website came back up, only a few premium tickets remained for this flight and additional flights from Boston that same week. The petitioner was forced to pay $2,411 for a one-way ticket and $5,048.5 for the entire booking. The petition claims this involves thousands of dollars the petitioner was forced to pay to avoid the risk involved in prolonged stay outside Israel. As of the date of filing the petition, the petitioner had not received any assignment to a rescue flight.

The petition claims that El Al's customers, who were repeatedly promised that until a solution was found for each of them they would not be required to compete for their place with new passengers who had not already bought a canceled ticket, suddenly discovered, without any preparation, that El Al flights had opened for sale to the general public. The petitioner claims that when the opportunity arose to sell tickets at exorbitant prices, El Al violated its commitment and opened ticket sales to the general public before assigning its existing customers. As a result, tens of thousands of its customers were forced to purchase flight tickets independently at exorbitant prices in order to reach home as quickly as possible.

In response, El Al stated that the company would study the petition upon receiving it and submit its response to the court as required.

Simultaneously, on Sunday, a petition for a class action lawsuit was filed with the Central District Court against Air Haifa company. The petition's filers, attorneys Galit Friedman and Ehud Gary, claim that the company violated the law regarding its conduct toward customers whose flights were canceled, particularly during the war with Iran.

Within the framework of the petition, it is claimed that according to law, a customer whose flight was canceled is entitled to choose between two main alternatives: refund or an alternative flight ticket, according to the passenger's choice. However, according to the petition's filers, Air Haifa misled its customers and caused them to think they had only one option – refund through monetary reimbursement.

It is further claimed that Air Haifa was unjustly enriched. It sold the flight seats it was required to allocate to the petitioner and group members to new passengers, who purchased these seats for exorbitant amounts much higher than those paid by group members.

Air Haifa responded that this is a querulous, expected and unjustified appeal that does not reflect reality and the company's efforts throughout the complex period. The company notes that the purpose of the appeal is unjust enrichment at the company's expense. Since the outbreak of war, Air Haifa claims, the company acted responsibly and transparently, with great dedication to help every passenger reach home.

The company emphasizes that it initiated the assignment to rescue flights itself, even without receiving an appeal from the customer, all from a sense of mission and mutual responsibility. In cases where passengers no longer needed the flight, the company asked them to update it, so it could free the space for other passengers, sometimes even passengers from other companies. Air Haifa notes that it will examine the appeal on its merits and respond accordingly through conventional channels.

Both petitions raise serious questions about the conduct of airlines in Israel during emergencies, and particularly about their relationship with existing customers versus the temptation to increase profits from selling tickets at high prices to the general public. The cases highlight the difficulty of Israeli passengers who were stranded abroad during the turbulent period and the heavy price they were required to pay to return home.