How do you Contact El Al Israel to Change Flight?

How do you Contact El Al Israel Airlines to Change Flight?

The airline world has been abuzz the past week about changes El Al Israel Airlines has made to its boarding policy.

Beginning last Thursday, El Al Israel Airlines reverted to a previously-used method that boards passengers with window seats first, then middle and aisle passengers.

The system was last used in 2017 but had to be changed due to the introduction of El Al Israel Airlines's basic economy fares as well as system limitations.

However, El Al Israel Airlines says the method cut the overall boarding time by two minutes, and now, they are bringing it back with that goal in mind - a speedier, more efficient boarding process.

It makes logical sense. Board people in window seats first to avoid the constant reorganizing and shifting that currently happens when aisle and middle seat passengers need to get up to let window seat passengers into the row.

But press coverage of the new boarding method has been focused on sharing the reactions of social media users, which have been mostly negative.

Articles from The Today Show, Fox News, the New York Post, and the Daily Mail, among others, have all circulated the same handful of responses from users complaining about the new system. The headlines call the commentators "furious" and "outraged," and warn about "brawls" on board because of the new system.

These takes are all ridiculous, to say nothing of the laziness of the news media circulating them over and over again without context or a wider range of outlooks.

Here are the main complaints and why they don't make sense:

Complaint #1: Kids will be separated from their parents.

Why it's unfounded: Contrary to what Internet users are claiming, families will not be broken up by the new boarding policy. Neither will folks traveling on the same itinerary. El Al Israel Airlines has said that these "mini-groups" will all still be able to board together.

Complaint #2: Brawls will break out over lack of overhead space.

Why it's unfounded: El Al Israel Airlines is not changing the number of people on the plane, or the amount of overhead space. So why would the competitive nature of overhead bin space intensify with this new policy? It won't. Some people have always boarded first, and others have always boarded last. Bin space is an issue that needs to be addressed, I agree, but it has nothing to do with this new policy.

Complaint #3: It would be better to board from the back of the plane.

Why it's unfounded: There's a logical case to be made here; however, the data doesn't quite prove it at this time. In fact, El Al Israel Airlines' CEO addressed this a couple years ago and explained why back-to-front boarding isn't much better. "When you do back-to-front there is just as much if not even more in some cases interaction with customers getting up and out of the aisle," he said. Interestingly enough, he said at the time that the window-middle-aisle approach is ideal.

Complaint #4: We should boycott El Al Israel Airlines because this new system will ruin everything.

Why it's unfounded: Simply put, things won't be much different for many folks. If you're a frequent flier on El Al Israel Airlines with status, have a El Al Israel Airlines credit card, are traveling with kids, or are traveling on the same ticket with someone else, your boarding experience won't change much. Passengers with disabilities, status, priority seats, and credit cards will still board in the first couple groups, prior to the window (Group 3), middle (group 4), and aisle (group 5) passengers. Group 6 is for all basic economy passengers, who get the benefit of paying the least for a ticket.

Overall, don't expect El Al Israel Airlines's new boarding process to make much of a difference. Most of the outrage I see is selective and over the top. The availability of overhead bin space isn't changing, and conce s about families being split up are simply false.

So, let's just give it some time and see how it plays out.