[Avodah] Flight or Fight

[Prof. Levine]

 From http://tinyurl.com/3okfklw

My husband and son took a New York-to-Milwaukee flight that was 
supposed to leave Friday at 11:29 a.m. The flight boarded after 4 and 
didn't leave the gate until 4:40, and a half-hour later the pilot 
announced it would be another hour until takeoff. At that point a 
devout Jewish family, worried about violating the Sabbath, asked to 
get off. Going back to the gate cost the plane its place in line for 
takeoff, and the flight was eventually canceled. Was the airline 
right to grant that request? M. W.,NORWALK, CONN.

Please see the response as well as the comments

Personally, I feel that this family had no business boarding a flight 
after 4 on a Friday afternoon.  Indeed, is one allowed to board a 
plane this close to the onset of Shabbos according to halacha?

And then I have to wonder once they decided to board after 4 PM and 
were on if they. were allowed to insist that the plane turn around 
given the obvious Chillul Shabbos that insisting the plane turn 
around generated?  The following is from two  of the comments.

43  I was on that flight and everything happened exactly as written 
in the letter. A few clarifications might be helpful. The flight was 
on a Friday in mid August. There were many inconvenienced travelers 
on the plane, including one gentleman who had been waiting all day to 
return home to Wisconsin after days of chemo therapy treatment at a 
major New York hospital. He spent the day stoically sitting in a 
wheelchair by the boarding gate with his wife. Not one complaint, 
just acceptance of his fate. I belive he had to return to his hotel 
to spend the night and try again the following morning.

Also, a few notes about the family in question. They were fretting 
about leaving on the delayed flight well before the final boarding as 
they were aware of time constraints and pending nightfall in 
Milwaukee. After the cancellation, I happened to see the father at 
baggage claim where we had all gone to retrieve our luggage. I asked 
him if he was aware that he had greatly inconvenienced a full plane 
of passengers already exhausted from spending a full day at the 
airport. He merely shrugged his shoulders and showed no remorse or 
concern for others. I was frankly quite disturbed by his lack of 
consideration.

44  I am an Orthodox Jew and here's how I see it:

I will also say that the pilot was wrong. I am a seasoned traveler, 
and I would NEVER board a plane that late on a Friday, not even in 
June, and not even if it was a quick NY to Boston flight. There's 
just too much potential for delays to screw up your timing even after 
you board. If you take Sabbath observance seriously, this is a risk 
you just don't take. You play with fire, you get burned- had they 
been made to stay and ended up violating the Sabbath, they would have 
to deal with the spiritual consequences of their decision-making; 
scary for those of us who believe, but unfortunately, that isn't a 
good reason to delay a plane full of people. I will reiterate, if 
you're that devout, you just don't take this kind of chance.

YL




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