The El Al Pilots Committee reacted to Sunday evening's cancellation of a flight from Israel to Beijing by saying, "At this very moment a plane and El Al pilots are available to operate the flight, just like it was yesterday when the flight to Newark was canceled for no reason." The company said the flight was cancelled because of the pilots' refusal to return to Israel on the next flight.
A statement by the union continued, "This is the second night in a row that the management and the board of directors choose to hurt hundreds of passengers who won't arrive at their destination as planned. We call on management to change its mind from the unfortunate decision to harm passengers for no reason during the company's most profitable year ever."