Huge queues and hundreds of suitcases that do not reach their destination: When will the unbearable loads at Ben Gurion Airport end?

An unusual load is recorded at each of the stations where the passengers pass: from the interrogation stations to the luggage conveyors.

It does not appear that the shortage of manpower will be resolved any time soon as this is an employment in shifts, which is unstable and may cease.

Will the situation improve ahead of the holidays, and what should you do if you choose to fly?

Keenan Cohen

23/06/2022

Thursday, 23 June 2022, 12:56 Updated: 21:50

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In the video: Queues and congestion at Ben Gurion Airport, just before the holiday: "Severe shortage of workers" (Photo: Niv Aharonson)

In recent months, the appearance of the giant queues at Ben Gurion Airport has become a matter of routine.

Crowds of people are seen in every corner and traffic is recorded at each of the stations where passengers pass: the security checkpoints, check-in counters, security checkpoints and also back to Israel on the luggage conveyors.

The numbers of those entering the entrance gate to Israel reveal the whole story of the collapse threshold that the airport has reached.

In June 2019, 2.1 million passengers passed through the field.

In contrast, in June 2020 - the peak of the corona epidemic, 41,000 passengers passed through Ben Gurion Airport and there was a 98% decrease in arrivals to Israel. In terms of number of aircraft: in June 2019 there were 7,146 planes in the field .

Loads at Ben Gurion Airport last week (Photo: Flash 90, Avshalom Sasson)

During the busy days of 2019, about 100,000 passengers passed through the field per day and during peak days - 115,000 passengers.

A year later in June 2021, when we began to maintain a kind of routine of flights with restrictions and corona checks, about 30-25 thousand passengers passed through the field a day.

Today the number of passengers in the field per day stands at 80-70 thousand.

Just to give proportions - this is more than the passers-by at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, which is one of the most advanced and crowded at European airports.

Another interesting comparison is that of the number of passengers in the summer months.

In 2019, the peak year of the airport, 5.5 million passengers passed through the airport.

This year - 4.3 million passengers are expected to depart, according to the Airports Authority.

And yet, the increase in manpower that was supposed to address these scopes was not in line.

The huge queues that drag in and out of the field are a direct pillar of this shortage as well as the fact that hundreds of suitcases will not reach their destination along with their owners - and some will not return to them at all.

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Loads at Ben Gurion Airport last week (Photo: Flash 90, Avshalom Sasson)

The Airports Authority is aware of this problem, and from conversations with officials in the Authority it is clear that under the impossible conditions of changing constraints and uncertainty, they are doing their utmost to provide solutions to a situation that is not always under their control.

Beyond coping attempts like returning other wing workers with background checks to reinforce the array, splitting flights to Terminal 1 and other solutions, efforts are also being made to recruit missing manpower in recent months.

This, through labor grants and the offer of higher salaries than in the past.

At present, however, the labor market's response to this call is far from satisfactory.

The work in very long shifts due to the shortage of manpower and the fact that it is an unstable employment that may stop in the next wave - also drives away those whose salaries are still winking at them.

The Airports Authority is pointing the finger of blame at the airlines themselves, which reduce check-in counters and lengthen queues as well, and call on the Ministry of Transportation to force those companies to allow early and long check-in for those flying with hand luggage only.

There are already two security interrogation complexes intended for these passengers: Compound W in Terminal 3 and Compound C in Terminal 1. The queues are significantly shorter and on at least two different occasions in the past month, it has been recorded that the stand does not last more than 15-10 minutes.

Loads at Ben Gurion Airport last week (Photo: Flash 90, Avshalom Sasson)

It must be said fairly that the situation in Israel is not significantly different from what is happening at some of the airports in Europe, with a return to a higher volume of activity than we have become accustomed to in the last two years in the shadow of the plague.

This distress does not remain the domain of passengers on the ground and in recent weeks there has been a huge wave of flight cancellations reaching more than ten thousand in one weekend - mainly of the shorter routes and domestic flights in Europe.

This is because when there are not enough ground workers to refuel, drive, check and prepare the planes for takeoff, delays are created in the flight schedule.

These delays go beyond periods of time that can be "reduced" in flight and a chain reaction of cancellations of onward flights and directing aircraft begins to fill the place of those delayed.

While in Israel there is little consolation in this aspect which is expressed in the careful management of "slots" - the same time intervals for landing and taking off aircraft.

This precise management has led to the fact that in relation to the world, very few flights have been canceled in Israel.

These, for the most part, were due to internal problems with the stabilization of pilots for the flight, but these are not the responsibility of the Airports Authority but the companies themselves.

Loads at Ben Gurion Airport last week (Photo: Flash 90, Avshalom Sasson)

What next?

Unfortunately there is no good news here.

As long as the corona shock waves continue, the morbidity and variants and the aviation world did not know how to change quickly the situation will remain similar.

How long will it last?

No one knows.

The guess of six months, a year or two is equivalent in their chances.

Since all of this happens even before the rush hour of the summer months, followed by the holiday season, the only certainty is that when it comes to your next trip - the part of getting there casts doubt on the viability of the trip itself.

And whoever chose to fly anyway

If you are still looking for tips that will help reduce your chances of passing hours of waiting in the giant queues, the first and best advice is not to travel - just do not fly.

If you have decided to fly, prefer to avoid morning flights, and opt for afternoon flights, then the load is lighter.

Avoid choosing a connection flight as much as possible, as your chances of missing it due to a flight delay or finding out on arrival that your connecting flight has been canceled increase.

Reduce your luggage to a bag that can be loaded onto the plane, it will not only allow you to check in early and not be required to queue at regular check-in counters and will significantly speed up your transit speed this hurdle.

Because a flight with limited luggage will also allow you to give up sending the suitcase in the belly of the plane, any sending of a suitcase in the current situation is roulette and risk finding yourself forced to pass the trip without it and in the worst case say goodbye to it forever.

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