As the ongoing war continues to disrupt air travel to and from Israel, frustration is growing among longtime passengers of El Al, with many saying the airline they trusted most during a crisis has instead left them stranded.

Across social media, travel forums, and community message boards, travelers describe a similar story: flights suddenly canceled, little to no communication from the airline, and no clear path to getting home.

One passenger traveling with children described the shock after deliberately booking with Israel’s most trusted airline to avoid exactly this situation.

“Same happened to me and my three kids. Booked with El Al to prevent this. Now they canceled and we have no way of going back.”

Others say the cancellations happened without even a notification.

“Our flight was pushed off by three days and we were never told,” one Israeli passenger wrote in Hebrew. “We almost went to the airport with a baby before discovering it ourselves. No email, no WhatsApp message — nothing.”

Another traveler described how his family is now stuck in Israel during an active conflict.

“Our flights were canceled by you and not rebooked. My wife and I and our two kids are now stranded in a country in the middle of a war because we chose to trust you and book with you.”

Some passengers say they were initially reassigned to so-called rescue flights — only to later discover the flights disappeared entirely from the departure boards.

“I understand there are constraints,” one passenger wrote. “But the way El Al is handling this is a disgrace. Our original flight was canceled, we were placed on a rescue flight, and now that flight doesn’t even appear on the schedule. There’s no new date and no way to reach the airline.”

Travelers say the situation is especially frustrating because many of them intentionally paid higher fares to fly with El Al during wartime, believing the airline would prioritize its passengers and provide reliable evacuation options.

Many communities report they have been inundated with complaints from travelers describing experiences strikingly similar to one another. Bochurim, seminary students, families, and couples say their flights were abruptly canceled without being offered alternative arrangements, forcing some to purchase entirely new tickets at dramatically inflated prices.

El Al has said that rebooking notifications were sent via WhatsApp. However, passengers have presented screenshots indicating that in many cases, such messages were never received.

Adding to the confusion, many travelers, thousands of them, do not use WhatsApp at all, raising further questions about how the airline expected those passengers to receive critical updates.