Waiting in Ben Gurion to get to Uman
Waiting in Ben Gurion to get to UmanFlash 90

An Israeli judge ruled that an airline must reimburse six family members for causing them to miss their flight to Uman despite the fact that the airline offered them a later flight, a Mako report said on Thursday. The plaintiffs claimed that the later flight would have them caused them to desecrate Shabbat.

A year and a half ago, six family members bought a Ukraine International package, which included plane tickets from Israel to Odessa, from Odessa to Uman, as well as hotel reservations in Uman.

The family arrived at the airport with plenty of time until their flight, passed through security and boarded the plane. "An hour passed and we didn't take off," one of the plaintiffs said. "And then the flight crew said that one passenger was delayed and other passengers were refusing to leave the jetway. Oddly, they requested from us to disembark from the plane and wait for a later plane to Odessa. We realized that if we fly to Odessa on the later flight, we would desecrate Shabbat and we wouldn't reach Uman before Shabbat. We had no choice but to give up the flight."

Later, when they contacted the airline to have their money reimbursed, the airline agreed to reimburse them only for a one-way ticket. The plaintiffs refused to accept this and instead filed a lawsuit against the travel company in the Jerusalem Small Claims Court.

The airline claimed there was no concern that the plaintiffs would have desecrated Shabbat because the plane landed six hours before the onset of Shabbat. The airline's lawyers argued that the plaintiffs were looking for an excuse not to fly so they could illegally demand the restitution of their money.

Judge Liat Benmelech stated in her ruling that she doesn't believe that the plaintiffs were just looking for a pretext not to fly, understanding that the last-minute disappointment was very upsetting to them. She ruled that the airline must compensate the plaintiffs to the tune of NIS 11,000.