Violence in the air?

I was horrified by the report “Ultra-Orthodox passengers assault staff on El Al flight over Shabbat” (November 18), much of which was contradicted subsequently in “‘We were kidnapped by El Al’ say passengers on horror flight from New York” (November 19).

It seems there were angry exchanges between many passengers, not specifically the “ultra-Orthodox” and the cabin crew. At most, one stewardess was jostled.

If the incident had taken place on any other airline and the headline had “Jewish” in place of “ultra-Orthodox,” it would rightly have been described as antisemitic.

El Al initially alleged that “haredi fliers had been violent,” whereas “numerous passengers stated subsequently that there had been no violence at all, with many blaming the late arrival of the cabin crew to the airport for the severe delay and failure to reach Israel on time.”

It is no excuse that this was “due to snow storms” since these were forecast and the passengers managed to arrive on time.

If “the flight captain announced that the plane was returning to the gate to allow anyone who wanted to disembark to do so, but then swiftly made its way to the runway and took off,” he should be dismissed for unprofessional behavior.

El Al must apologize, offer those stranded over Shabbat a full refund and make sure this never happens again. MARTIN D. STERN Salford, England