For those who fly abroad: "I am not jealous of anyone who arrives at Ben Gurion Airport on Passover"
The sentence in the title is told to us by Pinchas Idan, who, as chairman of the employees of the Airports Authority, was not afraid to shut down Ben Gurion Airport during professional struggles.
He now looks at the long line and admits he has no solution, at most a few easy steps.
Illness: Despite high wages, young Israelis do not want to work at Ben Gurion Airport
Liat Ron
28/03/2022
Monday, 28 March 2022, 14:12 Updated: 14:33
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It is amazing to see the congestion at Ben Gurion Airport and even more amazing to see Pini Idan, chairman of the employees' committee of the Airports Authority, helpless.
The man who led quite a few difficult struggles during his lifetime and did not hesitate to disable passenger traffic at the port, is facing the long queues at Ben Gurion Airport, which will become an even bigger catastrophe ahead of Passover, and does not know how to deal with them
. Admits, "We do not have enough workers, we are trying to recruit and people just do not want to come to work.
" With a handsome salary and shifts that allow for university studies at the same time
.
The human "traffic jams" at Ben Gurion Airport are created, among other things, due to a shortage of about 200 security workers that the chain is unable to recruit.
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Passengers at Ben Gurion Airport (archive). Unprecedented loads that are only expected to worsen (Photo: Reuven Castro)
High wages + conditions, and it is impossible to recruit workers
"Once upon a time, there were 50 candidates for each position," Idan recalls, "and today no one came. Something went wrong with the young people and it's not just at Ben Gurion Airport.
How much do security personnel pay?
" Of a convalescent home, clothing, a perseverance grant, a retirement grant, two flight tickets abroad during the agreement period and five additional food stamps for the lunch he receives every day. We
lack
between 150 and 200 security workers - quality people, with education, who take a one-month course and work according to GSS guidelines. Salaries are good and still do not come. This is a phenomenon we are not used to and do not know how to deal with. .
“When the layoffs were in Corona, I asked for people to be fired, or to be hired for a third of the job just to keep them going, but no one wanted to listen to me.
If we kept a cadre of workers in Corona, we would not get into this situation.
"People may be afraid that the corona will return, the flights will stop and send them home, or they do not want to work."
But it is hard to believe that this is the only reason: Understand why they do not want a job that is easy to combine with studies, especially for graduate degrees.
Pinchas (Pini) Idan, Chairman of the Airports Authority's Employees Committee. I do not understand how young people do not want to work in a respectable and lucrative position (Photo: Shlomi Gabay)
Fear of Passover
In an attempt to understand the unusual congestion at Ben Gurion Airport, we turned to a number of factors, but even those who disagree about the circumstances that led to the congestion agree on one thing: it is the worst of all: the current congestion is just a trailer for
the
overcrowding and even longer queues
.
Abroad, before the holiday, Israelis in numbers similar to those of the corresponding period in 2019, according to CBS data, 799,000 passengers left Israel at the time and 405,000 entered Israel. .
The big difference is that in 2019 4,000 workers worked at Ben Gurion Airport, almost double their number today, 30% more airline counters operated and about 60% of passengers made an early check-in that facilitated queues, which is not possible today due to the need for ground ground Of airlines to go through corona checks and recovery certificates manually.
Idan says that there is also a shortage of workers in the operation, but it is easier to recruit workers there, because the demands are less high.
"To be a sufferer you need two to three days maximum training, but a security man has to work screenings, interviews and a one-month course. Instead of one selector in a position, today one is in charge of several positions and that means more delays.
Transport Minister Merav Michaeli.
Promised to help, but apparently she also has no solution (Photo: TPS, Shalom Shalom)
Worst of all before us
"I'm not jealous of anyone who arrives at Ben Gurion Airport on Passover.
Even now it is not easy.
Although we were able to open Terminal 1, which is supposed to ease the congestion, it will also be limited.
In the meantime, we recruited the regular guys who were confident back and turned to our 250 retirees, 60 of whom will undergo a refresher course, because they know the job.
How much will it help?
I do not know. "Is
the Ministry of Transportation doing enough to help recruit security personnel?
" The Minister of Transport was here a few days ago when she flew to Dubai, she went through the inspection process herself, saw everything with her own eyes and promised to do everything to help
.
There is no hocus pocus here.
Maybe a TV campaign that will help recruit workers, but also reassure passengers, there is a lot of nervousness and violence.
I call on passengers - be patient.
If you stayed home for the holidays, you could get stuck in traffic jams on Route Six.
Take into account that there will be a long wait and you will be patient.
"
Of money
Tags
Ben Gurion Airport
Airports Authority
security
Pinchas Idan
