A week after the Ben Gurion Airport strike: hundreds of suitcases remain in the sun
While many passengers were forced to start their summer vacations without their personal belongings, footage from Ben Gurion Airport shows hundreds of suitcases still left out in the open.
A week after the surprise strike at Ben Gurion Airport, hundreds of suitcases were documented in an area outside the terminal, exposed to the August heat. Among the items is the luggage of passengers who were forced to depart without their belongings on the day of the strike.
On the day of the strike, the transfer of luggage to the sorting system was halted, causing many flights to take off without passenger bags. The issue persisted even after operations resumed, as disruptions continued to affect baggage handling.
In footage obtained by N12 on Thursday, the suitcases are seen lying in an area outside the terminal. Maman, the company responsible for sorting and shipping the luggage, claims that the items were kept in the sun for only a short time before being processed for delivery. Suitcases that have not been collected over the past week are expected to be sent to the passengers' homes.
The crisis caused significant delays throughout the airport. Passengers landing in Israel reported waiting hours at baggage carousels, while others faced delays in terminals and on board aircraft.
Following the strike, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the dismissal of the Israel Airports Authority workers' committee chairman, Pinchas Idan, from the Likud party. Additionally, the chairman of the Airports Authority council, Yiftach Ron-Tal, sought legal counsel to examine the possibility of canceling the extension of Idan's term.
Idan defended his actions, claiming the crisis stemmed from a severe labor shortage and employee exhaustion, and rejected allegations that the committee had ordered the closure of the airport.
"The suitcases are sorted in a designated area allocated by the Israel Airports Authority. In any case, the duration from the moment sorting is finished until the suitcases are loaded for transport is very short, as we aim to return them to passengers as quickly as possible," Maman stated.
