HEARTBREAKING: Husband of Blaze Media employee STRANDED in Israel with no way of getting home



Ashton DeGroot is one of Blaze Media’s very own, which is why it’s so important to us that her story is told to as many as possible.

Ashton’s husband Josh, who is a Messianic Jew, works for Christian ministry in Fort Worth, Texas, called Zola Levitt. Josh and his brother were recently asked to go to Israel to film a teaching series, but while they were there, the Hamas attacks began.

Now Josh and his brother are stuck in Israel with no way of knowing how they’re getting home to their anxiously waiting families.

Their flights have been canceled, and there is currently no official plan in place to rescue the thousands of trapped Americans.

“This is the largest mass kidnapping of Americans since the Iran crisis of the 70s, and our administration seems to have basically no opinion on it,” says Stu.

White House strategic communications coordinator John Kirby doesn’t see the problem. In a recent press conference, he stated:

“There are still many viable options for Americans who may want to leave Israel. The airport is still open ... and there's still some viable ground routes, so if people wanted to leave Israel via road, that's still possible as well.”

“I'm offended that that man would have the audacity to lie to the American people,” says Ashton.

“Oh just get a car [and] drive into Jordan, into Iman ... a super friendly country,” she mocks.

Further, “there's about 64,000 people at the Tel Aviv airport also trying to get a flight” with “only 30% of commercial flights leaving.”

“Mexico landed a plane and got their 300 nationals out; the Netherlands, Germany, Austria, [and] Poland” have all flown in and rescued their nationals, Ashton tells Stu.

“Where is America?” she pleads. “I grew up in a time when I believed that when I traveled internationally, my passport meant something, that nobody was gonna mess with somebody who had an American passport because they knew America meant business and they were going to come for you.”

But now, “our people are left stranded in a war zone that they didn’t ask to be a part of ... our people deserve better.”


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Lufthansa strike grounds over 1,000 flights, the latest airline to leave travelers stranded



Deutsche Lufthansa AG staff staged a one-day walkout on Wednesday that caused most flights out of Frankfurt and Munich to be canceled. The strikes also grounded some international flights.

The German trade union ver.di organized the strike to improve wages for ground staff and aircraft technicians impacted by rising inflation and ongoing aviation staff shortages. The union demanded a 9.5% wage increase for 20,000 workers.

In June, ver.di chairwoman Christine Behle explained that the German airline was at risk of losing staff, stating that "after three years of wage sacrifice, employees have been hit particularly hard by the high inflation rate."

Trade union warns of future strikes

Negotiations between ver.di and Lufthansa began at the end of June, and since then, the airline said it agreed to a 5.9%-14.8% increase for workers.

After meeting for two rounds of negotiations, Lufthansa's head of media relations, Martin Leutke, stated that the strike was "completely unnecessary" and "completely exaggerated."

A spokesperson for the trade union explained, "Lufthansa did not make an adequate offer in the first two rounds" and that employees need to demand more in the third round of negotiations.

Navigating a tight labor market

Airlines have struggled to keep up with the demanding post-lockdown summer travel season and industry-wide worker shortages. Lufthansa stated that it would attempt to rebook flights for passengers, but resources are limited.

Because Lufthansa is short on airport staff, the company recommends that those impacted by the cancellations call to rebook.

Chief officer of human resources and infrastructure at Lufthansa, Dr. Michael Niggemann, stated, "It affects our passengers in particular, who are impacted during the peak travel season. And it is putting an additional heavy strain on our employees in an already difficult phase for air traffic."

The airline anticipates another 646 flights will be canceled Wednesday out of Frankfurt and 330 out of Munich. Cancellations are expected to continue through Friday.

Lufthansa is the latest airline affected by a wave of staff strikes. Just last week, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS) came to an agreement with the pilot unions, ending a 15-day walkout that impacted over 350,000 passengers.

Worldwide flight cancellations have become an ongoing issue for those looking to travel. Airlines blame a combination of factors, including the surge in post-lockdown travel, staff shortages, and inclement weather.

Rep. Chip Roy and Sen. Lindsey Graham hoped to alleviate the staff shortage crisis by introducing a bill that would increase the mandatory retirement age of pilots from 65 to 67. The Monday press release warned that "nearly 14,000 qualified U.S. pilots will be forced to retire over the next five years."

\u201c"Americans are now experiencing flight delays and cancellations on an unacceptable scale due to a worsening pilot shortage."\n\nRep Roy's new bill with @LindseyGrahamSC would alleviate the crisis by raising the mandatory pilot retirement age:\n\nhttps://t.co/xCyKnsDN0b\u201d
— Rep. Chip Roy Press Office (@Rep. Chip Roy Press Office) 1658772279

U.S. senators are calling for Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and the Department of Transportation to take action and protect passengers.

Sen. Bernie Sanders stated in a June press release that prices for tickets rose 38% while airlines experienced a 50% increase in delays and an 18% increase in cancellations.

\u201cThe airline industry got $50 billion in taxpayer money in its time of need. What did Americans get in return? Disruptions, delays, and cancellations.\u201d
— Bernie Sanders (@Bernie Sanders) 1656694910

Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Sen. Alex Padilla wrote to the DOT that they have "the authority to take meaningful actions to hold airlines accountable for avoidable delays and cancellations."

The two senators accused the airlines of being ungrateful for the billions in taxpayer bailout assistance provided to them during COVID lockdowns. They stated that "major airlines have reciprocated by dramatically increasing ticket prices and reaching new lows in their treatment of travelers."

Until a solution is found, passengers will continue to pay the consequences of significant worldwide flight delays and cancellations.

Delta flight from US to China turns around mid-flight due to new COVID protocol



Delta Air Lines announced Monday that it had to turn back a flight from Seattle to Shanghai as a result of the Chinese airport's new COVID-19-related cleaning restrictions.

An emailed statement concerning the new mandates at the Shanghai Pudong International Airport said the airport's newly instated cleaning protocols “require significantly extended ground time and are not operationally viable for Delta," according to the Associated Press.

The new mandate comes on the heels of China's decision to tighten its already strict COVID travel policy as a result of a new outbreak of the virus in the city of Xi'an just six weeks before the start of the 2022 Winter Olympics, which will be hosted in Beijing.

Xi'an reported 63 cases on Thursday, which have now spread to at least five other Chinese cities, according to a story from France 24.

The city of Xi'an, which is home to 13 million people, imposed strict lockdown measures on its citizens Thursday, allowing only one member of each household to leave their homes once every two days to collect necessities for their families, according to a report by Yahoo Sports. The city of Xi'an, which is about 600 miles southwest of Beijing, reported an additional 300 cases over the weekend, the AP reported.

The Delta flight that had to turn back to Seattle while en route to the Shanghai Pudong International Airport left its passengers with both expired COVID test results and U.S. visas, according to the AP.

Delta is not the only airline affected by the Chinese airports' new protocol. China Airlines and EVA Air, both based in Taiwan, reduced the number of flights headed to the Shanghai Pudong International Airport, citing the new cleaning policy as the reason for the reduction.

EVA Air is canceling flights from two cities to Shanghai until Feb. 3, and China Airlines decided to cancel flights from one city to Shanghai and reduce the number of flights on another route, according to the AP.

The Chinese consulate in San Francisco did not name Delta in a statement released Sunday, the AP said, but said that a number of flights from the U.S. to China had recently been canceled or delayed.