Last week American Airlines revealed that it will serve Tel Aviv out of a third US city, with all three flights expected to launch in 2021. This new flight is now bookable.
In this post:
American’s Miami to Tel Aviv route launches June 2021
As of June 4, 2021, American Airlines will launch 3x weekly Miami to Tel Aviv flights. The new service will operate with the following schedule:
Miami to Tel Aviv departing 7:40PM arriving 3:10PM (+1 day) [Wed, Fri, Sun]
Tel Aviv to Miami departing 11:55PM arriving 6:50AM (+1 day) [Mon, Thu, Sat]
With only three flights per week it’s interesting that American is choosing to operate one of the frequencies on a Friday, given that a not-insignificant number of travelers to & from Israel don’t travel on that day. I’m guessing this isn’t a coincidence, and that the airline thinks enough other people want to travel on Fridays to maximize their time away from home.
American’s new Miami to Tel Aviv route
American Airlines will use a Boeing 777-200ER for the route, featuring 273 seats, including 37 business class seats and 24 premium economy seats.
American’s 777s feature premium economy
A few interesting things to note about this route:
- At 6,603 miles, this will be American’s longest route out of Miami; it’s blocked at 12hr30min eastbound and 13hr55min westbound
- American will go head-to-head against EL AL in this market
- This will be American’s first route from Miami to Asia (even though Western Asia isn’t what people traditionally think of when they hear Asia); Miami Airport has been trying to attract service to North Asia/China for years, so here’s to hoping we see a route like that at some point
- This flight is now on sale, though as of the time of this post, there’s not much award or upgrade availability in first & business class at a reasonable cost
American’s Dallas & New York to Tel Aviv flights
It’s fantastic to see American not only return to Israel, but to do so in full force. American’s last route to Israel was from Philadelphia to Tel Aviv, and that route was cut in 2015, after allegedly losing money for years.
American’s new Miami to Tel Aviv route complements new service from Dallas and New York:
- As of May 2021, American will launch daily flights between New York and Tel Aviv; this is being operated as part of American’s new strategic partnership with JetBlue in the Northeast
- As of October 2021, American will launch 3x weekly flights between Dallas and Tel Aviv; this was the first route to Israel that American announced, though it has been pushed back due to coronavirus
American will fly to Israel from three US cities
Bottom line
How cool to see American continue to expand its service to Israel, as the airline goes from operating no flights to the country, to operating flights out of three cities. I’m particularly excited about the Miami route, as a resident in the area who would love to return to Israel, after having had an amazing trip there a few years ago.
I still find it a bit surprising how soon all of these routes are being launched, with Israel’s borders still closed. While Israel is getting its population vaccinated quickly, I’ll be curious to see if that also means that borders reopen within the next few months, which presumably is something that American is banking on here.
What do you make of American’s Miami to Tel Aviv route?
About two months ago I booked MIA-TLV roundtrip departing April 26 and reurning May 18. I was just notified that flights were switched to JFK connection. Has American discontinued the non stops to TLV?
Please don't quote TWA884, the guy is a complete and utter lunatic. A total tyrant on his fiefdom (oops, forum!), erasing comments and then threatening users with manufactured violations.
InternetBrands (the owner of FT) doesn't care.. why this guy continues to be allowed to be a moderator is beyond me. The worst of the worst of Flyer Talk.
Will Delta add a TLV flight from ATL
With all the Goldsteins and Silverbergs flying ex MIA, there’s little to no need for MileSAAver awards
I speak as an Orthodox Jew.
I would almost never fly on a Sabbath (Friday sundown -Saturday stars) . Yet, when a parent travelling in Europe became Septic, I booked a Friday night flight on Swissair to get there quickly. Ultimately, things looked OK and I did not travel.
PS: the Swissair flight did not operate, a rarity in the SR airline days, LOL.
Orthodox Jews are prohibited from flying based on their religious beliefs but they can risk the wrath of G-d and fly.
Carl Icahn should be responsible for the $20 million debt. After all he dismantled TWA.
AA has to be thinking they will make money on cargo with all these new TLV routes.
Jews fly on Friday. Some Jews who are religious won't. But not all. So far award space seems to be only at the highest levels. 125K one way per person to TLV in business class.
@Jordan , that is incorrect on a few levels: (1) The amount in question was around $16M (2) It was not owed to the Israeli government, but rather to former employees of TWA, and (3) It was never actually owed by American Airlines.
This is from TWA884 on FT:
"AMR and American Airlines never agreed to pay TWA's obligations to its Israeli employees nor was it ordered to pay them.
The Israeli court case...
@Jordan , that is incorrect on a few levels: (1) The amount in question was around $16M (2) It was not owed to the Israeli government, but rather to former employees of TWA, and (3) It was never actually owed by American Airlines.
This is from TWA884 on FT:
"AMR and American Airlines never agreed to pay TWA's obligations to its Israeli employees nor was it ordered to pay them.
The Israeli court case was Ezra Berman v Trans World Airlines, Inc., Tel Aviv District Court 1225/01, 2001(1) 29448. A related case was Insolvency Case - Trans World Airlines 2005(4) 10352.
Some of the details are described in the book Private International Law in Israel by Talia Einhorn. ...According to Ms. Einhorn, the court ordered that the Israeli assets of TWA be seized and sold to pay the Israeli employees in a similar manner to that used to pay TWA's employees in France. After those claims were paid, any leftover proceeds from the sale of the assets were to be turned over to the US bankruptcy court trustee for distribution among all the other creditors on an equal basis.
There weren't enough assets in Israel to satisfy the court order. The balance is owed by the of estate Trans World Airlines, Inc., in the Delaware Bankruptcy Court, not by American Airlines or its then parent AMR or its successor American Airlines Group."
@VoxLiberum Indeed, anyone with a nut allergy is physically able to ingest nuts, but the consequences might be anything from mild discomfort to death depending on amount consumed and severity of allergy. A vegetarian consuming beef will be absolutely fine, as will an observant Jew flying on the sabbath. Maybe a bit of a bad conscience and some trolling on Twitter by others.
@Andreas
A person with a peanut allergy CAN, indeed, CONSUME peanuts. He or she DECIDES not to because of the allergy.
Perhaps it is time to learn to distinguish and to try and find the appropriate verbs.
Don't be so hard on Max. In his ignorance he was right. Jews can't fly on Friday, or for that matter any day. Neither can non jews. We walk ok and some of us run but we don't fly.
Some Orthidox Jews choose not to fly on the Sabbath, it's a choice. It's the same as some keeping kosher and some not.
AA might have a chance of making one TLV route work - but even in the best of times no carrier has launched 3 routes to the same foreign city and succeeded long-term with them.
AA's PHL-TLV route was one of US's biggest money makers (and this was discussed on here several times). I have this on good authority from someone at AA HQ.
The route was cut when HP dba US took over AA. AA owed the Israeli government $20 million - a TWA debt, that went to AA when they bought TW. The debt still stood, and as a carrier operating as AA back to Israel, they would...
AA's PHL-TLV route was one of US's biggest money makers (and this was discussed on here several times). I have this on good authority from someone at AA HQ.
The route was cut when HP dba US took over AA. AA owed the Israeli government $20 million - a TWA debt, that went to AA when they bought TW. The debt still stood, and as a carrier operating as AA back to Israel, they would need to pay this first, hence the PHL route being cut when renegotiating the AA metal to TLV.
Yes, many rumors about AA returning to TLV over the years, since TLV is a massive moneymaking route to the US, and of course AA wanted back in. 2020 (the great you know what) presented the perfect solution I would imagine to finally pay off that $20 million, and write it down with all the other awful debt that 2020 bought. Billions lost anyway, whats a little $20 million. I suspect AA had a few million in an account, and were saving the interest to pay off the debt anyway. Money moves...or perhaps a "deal" was worked out.
On View from the Wing, a passenger was complaining about many Orthadox Jews not using face masks on flights from Tel Aviv to states. Is this going to be a serious problem regarding Covid?
There is a difference between “can’t” and “won’t. An observant Jew can fly on the sabbath and can eat non-kosher food. They choose not to. Same as a vegetarian can eat meat. Meanwhile, someone with a nut allergy can not consume nuts.
Time to start distinguishing between special needs and special wants.
Good news and it's great to see that AA will be returning to TLV.
AA merged with TWA and discontinued the flight from JFK to TLV.
AA later merged with USAir and discontinued the flight from PHL to TLV.
Now AA will have service from DFW, JFK, and MIA to TLV.
Mazel tov!
מזל טוב
@Abey - TLV does offer transit area with no need to clear immigration and customs to Israel.
@Phil - why would the Israelis pass the hell of connecting in US airport, not to mention the need to have US visa, if we can connect immigration and customs free in MAD/LIS/CDG/LHR/FCO/FRA?
TLV appears to be AA's last great hope of a viable international operation and yet history shows that it will likely fizzle out just like continental Europe and Asia.
@Max 2 as an ultra orthodox jew I am upset on your comment because you sow a few jews not following the roles doesn't mean that we are all crazy there are always the ones that don't listen
Perfect! Friday flight where I don't have to endure the ultraorthodox religious extremists who don't adhere to Corona rules.
@Mak there really are not many options on the eastbound timing-wise. It has to leave late enough to capture connections, and allow people to have full days, but that means trading a day on the other end.
It's how most flights from the US to the ME, and also from the West Coast to Europe, work by way of time difference. Luckily the westbound segments can leave late at night, allow plenty of time for...
@Mak there really are not many options on the eastbound timing-wise. It has to leave late enough to capture connections, and allow people to have full days, but that means trading a day on the other end.
It's how most flights from the US to the ME, and also from the West Coast to Europe, work by way of time difference. Luckily the westbound segments can leave late at night, allow plenty of time for a meal on board and a full night of sleep, and arrive early in the morning.
@phil usa does not allow sterile transit, so it is not aimed for latin America feed.
Israel-UAE route, sorry
I thought this was already in place. I had seen this flight route about 2 months ago and posted it on here on one of the Israel-USE flight news related to direct flight to TLV from US.
I think somebody hasn't fully thought the Friday flight through. Like the afternoon flight to Rio that arrived at 3:30 in the morning that they later changed to a normal evening departure, this will probably change too once the marketing department sees it. Not good for business passengers. Not good for many pleasure travelers.
I had heard rumours that Emirates was looking at flying an American (not necessarily North American) route to Dubai with a...
I think somebody hasn't fully thought the Friday flight through. Like the afternoon flight to Rio that arrived at 3:30 in the morning that they later changed to a normal evening departure, this will probably change too once the marketing department sees it. Not good for business passengers. Not good for many pleasure travelers.
I had heard rumours that Emirates was looking at flying an American (not necessarily North American) route to Dubai with a stop in Tel Aviv. This could be preemptive against them doing it in an AA hub.
This would be perfect for anyone connecting between Latin America and Israel. Just 1 stop through Miami.
GREAT NEWS AA!
ITS ABOUT ABOUT TIME YOU ADD INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS OUT OF
Miami!
Now, add Rome, Zurich and Frankfurt.
Genuine question: If AA was loosing money on PHL-TLV in 2015, how is launching three routes during a pandemic (presumably past its equator) going to be any better financially?
@Max Orthodox and observe conservative Jews won’t fly (approximately 40%) but many conservative and reformed Jews would fly on Shabbat as a practical matter.
Hopefully there will be opportunities to use BA Avios for reward redemptions.
"I would love to see MIA-TYO or MIA-HKG"
There's nil reason for AA (or really any airline) to fly MIA-HND/NRT, as the O&D traffic is almost nonexistent (less than AUS, BNA, and IND as of 2018 numbers) and any number of AA's other hubs can be used for easy connections.
MIA-HKG is surprisingly more of a market, the only problem is that nothing in AA's fleet can fly it, without massive restrictions. It'd be the...
"I would love to see MIA-TYO or MIA-HKG"
There's nil reason for AA (or really any airline) to fly MIA-HND/NRT, as the O&D traffic is almost nonexistent (less than AUS, BNA, and IND as of 2018 numbers) and any number of AA's other hubs can be used for easy connections.
MIA-HKG is surprisingly more of a market, the only problem is that nothing in AA's fleet can fly it, without massive restrictions. It'd be the 2nd longest 787 flight in the world (after PER-LHR, by only 17nm), but AA's aircraft are heavier due to their outfitting; and again, why bother? They could just as easily bring back LAX/DFW-HKG, for easy connections.
This will also compete with TK.
This is great news!! I am so happy to hear American finding new routes to Tel Aviv, a fabulous destination.
Now of only TLV would offer sterile transit that would be an Asia game changer
Sorry I read it wrong, it is the return that is leaving Tel Aviv at 11:55 on Sat
I think it should be pretty obvious that they're flying on Friday because their competition isn't... If someone needs to get there the other days of the week there are two nonstops carriers to choose between but if they need to fly on a Friday there's only one. Seems really smart by AA.
Actually, by leaving Miami at 11:55 PM it is going to be ok also for observant Jews. Indeed, it is a smart scheduling from AA
I think it would have been a potential issue Thursday, Friday or Saturday given when one needs to leave for the airport and/or arrival at home/destination.
Good News. Now let's see if they make award seats available without have to pay triple points to sit up front.
@Max So Friday would be a day for non-Jewish non-revenue or award flying.
@ Max not all Jews.
I would love to see MIA-TYO or MIA-HKG
Why are they flying on Fridays when jews cant fly
Nice job, AA!