Travelers to and from Israel ten days before the Passover holiday found themselves totally stranded this week when TWA suddenly ceased flying to Israel, effective immediately. Would-be passengers on the Tuesday night flight from New York had been informed earlier that day that everything was on schedule. When they arrived at the airport, however, they found that the flight had been canceled. Frantic calls to TWA offices produced vague answers. Only after travel agents consulted their on-line flight schedules did they find that all TWA flights to and from Israel had been canceled.
Wednesday night, most passengers were still not aware of the situation, and the frantic airport situation repeated itself, in both New York and Tel Aviv. Finally, on Wednesday night, TWA announced that service to Israel \"has been indefinitely suspended,\" and that the company was \"contacting ticket holders in the United States and Israel so they can make other arrangements\" - but there was no word on refunds of tickets that TWA sold almost up to the last minute.
In the statement, TWA said the Tel Aviv route \"will not be a part of the acquisition\" by American Airlines. The statement also noted that the TWA employee group in Israel had gone to court to seek liquidation of TWA\'s Israeli assets for benefit of Israeli creditors, and that TWA therefore \"had no choice but to move quickly to protect its assets.\" This was interpreted in Israel as meaning that TWA canceled its flights for fear that Israel would confiscate the plane.
Other travel industry sources said, however, that this was an unrealistic fear. These sources said that American Airlines\' refusal to purchase the Tel Aviv-NY route was rooted not in political considerations, but rather in the expensive labor agreements TWA made with its large staff of 100 employees in Tel Aviv.
TWA ticket-holders on both ends of the New York-Israel route are advised to call TWA in order to make alternative flight arrangements. In Jerusalem: 02-624-7064; in Tel Aviv: 03-7955305; in the U.S., 1-800-221-2000.