Haj Firms Want Saudia to Pay Reparations: “Soon after the announcement by the Supreme Judiciary Council advancing the Arafat Day to Wednesday, we worked out an emergency plan to transport domestic pilgrims and help them reach the holy sites before the beginning of Haj. We had to reschedule more than 50 flights to take pilgrims to Jeddah and Taif from various parts of the Kingdom.”

The timing of Haj and other Islamic holy days are determined by the sighting of the moon, and the sighting does not always match the predicted sighting date. Haj itself is an example of a peak load problem, in the parlance of economists, with many pilgrims seeking to complete the same pilgrim on the same timetable in the same place. The uncertainty surrounding the moon sighting creates a transportation problem much like that faced by an electric utility that has to meet demand even when weather makes demand uncertain. Pilgrims concerned about being in Jeddah on time could do so by traveling before the predicted sighting date.