Israel's El Al has hit a patch of financial turbulence

El Al has had an eventful month, but not necessarily in a good way. Labor union trouble, flight cancellations and consumer watchdog reports have stacked up against the airline since the beginning of April, and the company is still experiencing turbulence. Last week, the airline was forced to withdraw from Israel’s annual Independence Day flyover due to a dispute between its maintenance workers’ and pilots’ labor unions. On the morning of the holiday, El Al’s mechanics walked away from their posts in a coordinated act of defiance. “We regret that El Al was unable to attend the flyover for Israel’s 74th Independence Day. This is a severe incident,” said El Al. According to the maintenance workers’ union, the walkout was taken to protest the cancellation of 11 flights in recent days, which they blamed on the airline’s pilots. “If the pilots can take part in the flyover, they can staff the flights,” the union said. The canceled flights were due to “operational reasons beyond [El Al’s] control,” said El Al in a statement, noting that “with the help of all labor unions and across all sectors,” the company was working to resume services. The canceled flights caused logistical issues for many passengers who only learned of their cancellation a few hours before scheduled takeoff, according to a report in Israel Hayom. Customers found themselves stranded without any means of reaching customer service. Story has more. <br/>