Brussels Airlines facing strike after workers say they were forced to fly to Israel
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Union says airline violated deal specifying that staff, concerned over safety and ‘ethical impact,’ could not be made to fly Tel Aviv route
Planes from Brussels Airlines on the tarmac at Brussels Airport in Brussels May 12, 2020.
Belgium’s Brussels Airlines was hit with threats of a workers’ strike on Tuesday after staff said the airline violated an agreement with a labor union by forcing workers to staff flights to Israel, despite refusals from some employees.
Workers have cited the danger of flying into a war zone, and also the “ethical impact” of serving on the Israel-bound route.
According to The Brussels Times, a work agreement signed between the airline and the ACV Puls workers’ union specified that workers could volunteer to staff flights to Israel, but the airline could not compel them to do so if they refused.
“Staff have serious concerns about both their physical safety and the mental and ethical impact of these flights,” a union representative told the Belgian outlet.
“Nevertheless, Brussels Airlines refuses to give employees the option to refuse such assignments,” the union official said, adding that the situation was “particularly grave in the context of the ongoing war and genocide in Gaza.”
“Any disruption will be limited exclusively to flights to and from Tel Aviv. ACV Puls will protect any employee who does not wish to fly to a war zone,” the union clarified.
The union pointed to the Belgian foreign ministry’s warning against all nonessential travel to Israel, saying that the airline “cannot act as though Tel Aviv is a normal business destination.”
The airline looked to assuage concerns, saying: “Brussels Airlines resumed operations to Tel Aviv this summer. During the first few weeks, these flights were operated by volunteers. Now that these flights have been successfully resumed, we can return to the standard procedure for drawing up duty rosters.”
“Together with the other airlines in the Lufthansa Group, we will continue to monitor the situation on the ground closely and can adjust our procedures at any time, should that be necessary,” the airline said.
Other carriers have reportedly faced similar difficulties finding cabin crew.
In July, Austrian Airlines and Italy’s flag carrier ITA resumed operations to Israel that were disrupted by the US-Iran war. However, Channel 12 reported at the time that both airlines suspended flights to Israel after failing to fully staff crews, as pilots and flight attendants were unwilling to travel to the country, according to sources familiar with the issue, although they currently do offer services.
At the time, the US and Iran were still exchanging fire in an ongoing war that drew in regional countries, and there was a significant threat that Tehran would launch missiles at Israel as it has done in the past. The US-Iran conflict has since settled into a wary ceasefire, though the two sides clashed again on Sunday.
Many other carriers that canceled services due to the fighting have gradually restarted operations, though not all.
War in the Gaza Strip was triggered by the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel. Israel rejects accusations that its military response amounted to genocide, saying it tries to minimize civilian casualties and that Hamas embeds itself among civilians. The war halted with an October 2025 ceasefire.
Reference Link:- https://www.timesofisrael.com/brussels-airlines-facing-strike-after-workers-say-they-were-forced-to-fly-to-israel/
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance, a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016, working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
