N., an oncology patient from the Sharon area who was on his way to life-saving medical treatment in California, found a shard of a Japanese knife inside a vegetable patty served to him on the plane. After he complained, the airline offered him a $1,000 compensation voucher, but he refused. "It's a ridiculous compensation for an incident that could have ended in disaster," he said in a conversation with Ynet.
The incident occurred on August 19 during a flight to Los Angeles. N's insurance company flew him to a series of treatments in the United States. N., who was recovering from a complex surgery at that time, flew in business class due to his condition.
"Out of excitement, I photographed all the meals served to send to my soldier son who stayed in Israel," N. recounted. "For breakfast, which was served towards the end of the flight, I was asked to choose between shakshuka and a vegetable patty. To my astonishment, and to my great fortune, just before I took a bite, while cutting the vegetable patty with the knife and fork to slice it, I noticed a hard foreign object in the patty. I removed the foreign object and was left in complete shock when I realized it was a part of a Japanese knife. Immediately, I called the flight attendant and asked her to also call the purser, and I pointed out to them what was happening on my plate.
N recounted: "I asked them to document and report to the highest authority at El Al, and if necessary, to involve a security official – how does a Japanese knife end up in a meal served on a flight, especially in business class? How does such a dish leave the catering department? In my opinion, this borders on an act of sabotage, who knows in these times. Completely agitated, I also asked the flight attendant to stop serving breakfast on the entire flight to take a precautionary measure in case there were any more fragments of the Japanese knife in the meals being served to the passengers. Unfortunately, that didn't happen; the crew chose to continue serving breakfast to the passengers.
N concluded: "The great luck was that I was busy taking pictures and 'showing off' to my son what a top-notch breakfast is served in business class." And what if I had taken a bite – it would have cut my entire throat. Thank God that didn't happen."
El Al responded: "We are very relieved that you were not harmed by the presence of the knife. For service reasons, we would be happy to offer you a credit voucher in the amount of $1,000, which we hope will help to somewhat dull your experience of the event."
El Al did not deny the mishap and offered N a compensation – a voucher worth $1,000. "In continuation of our conversation on the matter," stated El Al's Customer Relations Department, "we would like to once again express our apologies for the unfortunate incident of finding a knife shard in the meal served on your flight with us to Los Angeles on August 19, 2024. However, we are very relieved that you were not harmed by the presence of the knife. The matter is being handled with the appropriate seriousness by all relevant parties, including those responsible for flight safety. For service reasons, we would be happy to offer you a credit voucher of $1,000, which we hope will help to somewhat alleviate your experience from the event. The voucher will be sent in a separate email. We would be happy to host you again on our next flights to your complete satisfaction. Best regards, El Al Customer Relations."
"I was very upset by this letter," said N., "El Al should be ashamed that they find it appropriate to compensate a passenger in this way - it could have ended in disaster. I decided to contact the head of the claims department at El Al and gave her more time to reconsider the company's conduct and rethink the ridiculous compensation they chose to offer me. Since I hadn't heard from her again, I landed in the country at the beginning of November, feeling healthier, and decided to take the initiative and not remain silent, reaching out to the media."
"It is unacceptable that El Al dismissed my case with a wave of the hand and did not bother to get back to me after I emphasized that the compensation offered to me is not acceptable. I also want to understand what was done regarding the investigation of the incident that endangered my life."
El Al responded: "Upon receiving the details of the incident, the matter was thoroughly investigated by all relevant parties. This is an exceptional incident that does not reflect the service and catering standards of El Al, and the food kitchens we work with maintain strict quality controls. We apologize for the customer's experience and are continuously working to prevent similar incidents from occurring."