A wildcat labor strike at Israel’s Ben-Gurion International Airport on Thursday was causing major delays in flight arrivals and departures during the busiest summer travel day of the year, according to the Israel Airports Authority.
The illegal work stoppage caused chaos at the country’s main airport from early afternoon, with arrivals nearly halted and departing passengers waiting to go through security and check-in.
At least one flight had already had to make a U-turn midair, and dozens more are expected to do so, according to Israeli media reports.
Airport workers had previously complained of insufficient personnel to handle the traffic.
Israeli Transportation and Road Safety Minister Miri Regev, who is in Morocco, said she would immediately take the workers to court over the strike.
“Whoever took the decision to hold tens of thousands of Israeli citizens hostage will pay a heavy price,” she said.
The strike was supposed to be over by late afternoon, but rolling delays caused by the backlog were likely to continue for some hours.
