Wildcat strike at Ben Gurion disrupts Etihad's Abu Dhabi route amid pre-election tensions

A surprise strike by ground staff at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport on August 20 rippled across Etihad Airways' Abu Dhabi services, with at least one cancellation and multiple delays as airlines scrambled to stabilize schedules during peak summer travel.

The walkout began around midday, halting check-in counters and arrivals for roughly two hours on what was expected to be Israel's busiest travel day of the year, with some 107,000 passengers scheduled to pass through the airport.

The Israel Airports Authority blamed the workers' union for the disruption, while the Histadrut labor federation denied ordering a strike and pointed instead to chronic staffing shortages and inadequate preparation for the summer surge.

Etihad confirmed that flight EY608 from Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi was cancelled, while EY594 operated with a limited passenger load and EY597 and EY598 were delayed.

The airline cited "unplanned industrial action affecting a number of airlines" at Ben Gurion. Flight-tracking data showed the airport becoming the world's most disrupted for departures the following day, with delays averaging 70 to 90 minutes, as displaced aircraft and crews were repositioned across the network, a knock-on effect that also hit passengers connecting through Abu Dhabi to Asia, Australia, Europe and North America.

The strike carries a distinctly political undertone. Union chief Pinchas Idan is a member of Netanyahu's Likud party, and his term at the helm of the Airport Authority Workers' Union had reportedly been extended past its May expiry amid pressure from senior Likud figures.

Netanyahu moved swiftly to expel Idan from Likud, alleging the union leader had orchestrated a "political and illegal shutdown" to damage the party, while Idan denied responsibility, insisting airport management, not the union, had ordered the shutdown.

With Israel's legislative elections just two months away, the episode has become a flashpoint. Transportation Minister Miri Regev, caught abroad in Morocco when the crisis broke, called for legal action against the union, while opposition figures seized on the chaos to criticize the government's handling of public services.

Analysts note the standoff illustrates how labor disputes at a symbolically vital state institution can quickly become entangled with electoral maneuvering, as unions test their leverage and political factions look to assign blame ahead of the vote.

Operations at Ben Gurion had largely returned to normal, though residual delays and cancellations persisted into the following days as airlines worked through backlogs. Travelers on the Tel Aviv–Abu Dhabi corridor are advised to check flight status closely and allow extra time for connections while schedules fully stabilize.