It seems Rabbi Sorotzkin accepted the "apology" and compensation as adequate because shortly after declaring a boycott and cutting up his El Al Platinum card, and saying he canceled his flight for today, he made his way quickly back to El Al for the flight...
Eli Bitan's comment/caption on this picture was the best: I'm Not Your Toy
UPDATE: There was an interesting interview with Rav Sorotzkin in the Mishpacha magazine (Hebrew edition) that past week. Mostly it was about his relationship with Rav Shteinman, but they touched on this issue. I think it is only fair for me to mention his response here.
They asked him about the apology and his flying El Al right away and if it was all just a show... Sorotzkin responded that the fight with El Al was only about the accusation that Haredim were violent on the plane. Nothing else. He said that he does not have time for long drawn out battles. He has responsibilities and has to run his yeshivas and kollels. As soon as El Al put out that letter that they never said the Haredim were violent, that was good enough for him and he had to get back to work. If other people want to continue fighting because this letter was not adequate, that is up to them and he does not tell anybody else what to do.
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Boy did El Al drop the ball on this one.
ReplyDeleteIf from the very beginning that had been more communicative, assuring passengers that arrangements had been made for Shabbat including food and accommodation in Europe, in the case that they didn't make it to Israel in time, that would have relieved a lot of tension and confusion on the flight.
After the flight, they should have issued a press release apologizing for the inconvenience, but reiterating their policy of not flying on Shabbat, thanking Chabad of Athens and Rome for preparing meals (which weren't even used in Rome), and assuring passengers that in the future they will continue to make sure that Shabbat arrangements will be taken care of by the airline in case of an unforeseen delay.
had they made a press release like that (maybe with a picture of happy passengers spending Shabbat together in the hotel, that would have been great publicity and great for their image.
Instead, they turned this into a PR nightmare with threats of legal action and demands for apologies, etc.
Time for El Al to get new PR people.
True, but the real truth is people have very very short memories. Maybe people remember for a month, but after that, if El Al prices are less than others, ppl will flock right back to them
DeleteNot all Athens "guests" made it to the Athens hotel and chabad meals.
ReplyDeleteMany had to return to the airport and the israir flight cause there was no room at the hotel.
Meanwhile, the luggage arrived on the original flight (empty of passengers) before shabbat (but within the 18 minutes)
UPDATE: There was an interesting interview with Rav Sorotzkin in the Mishpacha magazine (Hebrew edition) that past week. Mostly it was about his relationship with Rav Shteinman, but they touched on this issue. I think it is only fair for me to mention his response here.
ReplyDeleteThey asked him about the apology and his flying El Al right away and if it was all just a show... Sorotzkin responded that the fight with El Al was only about the accusation that Haredim were violent on the plane. Nothing else. He said that he does not have time for long drawn out battles. He has responsibilities and has to run his yeshivas and kollels. As soon as El Al put out that letter that they never said the Haredim were violent, that was good enough for him and he had to get back to work. If other people want to continue fighting because this letter was not adequate, that is up to them and he does not tell anybody else what to do.