Passenger Sues United Airlines Delaying Flight to Tel Aviv After Crew Refused To Fly During Gaza Conflict

A passenger has filed a $50,000 lawsuit against United Airlines after it delayed a flight by one day, saying that the delay was due to a curfew at Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv. The flight was scheduled to leave Newark, New Jersey on August 6, during the conflict between Israel and Islamic Jihad in Gaza, called Operation Breaking Dawn by Israel, which saw over 1,000 rockets being fired from Gaza on southern Israel, with some reaching as far as the center of the country where the airport is located. There was no curfew at the airport, however, and passengers were told in an announcement by the gate agent that “the pilots are refusing to take the flight at this time.” The lawsuit alleges that United committed fraud, breach of contract, and negligence “when its crew refused to perform their job, and United deliberately, and knowingly lied about the reason for its delay.” The plaintiff in the lawsuit told the Jerusalem Post that when they called the airline to find out why the flight was delayed, they were first told that it was due to bad weather in the area, but then the airline said the cause was a maintenance issue, later settling on a curfew as the reason. It is possible that the airline did not cite crew refusal as the reason because, as it says on United’s website, “we don’t provide free hotel stays if your flight is delayed or canceled for reasons outside our control.” According to the lawsuit, “Clearly, United did not want to be honest with its passengers that the flight was delayed due to the pilot’s refusal to fly because that would leave them solely liable to all of their passengers.” Passengers on the delayed flight received a $40 meal voucher to compensate for the delay.