At the beginning of the month, EL AL announced their intention to launch flights between Tel Aviv and San Francisco in late 2018. While we knew that they wanted to add 3x weekly flights as of the last quarter, they hadn't revealed more detailed plans yet. Well, EL AL has now published the details for…
Continue reading: More Details On EL AL’s New Flight Between San Francisco & Tel Aviv
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Isn’t the long time on the ground meeting minimum crew rest? That could allow them to avoid long crew layovers (thus salaries, per diem and accommodation cost) especially considering it’s only 3 x weekly...
@ Peter -- There's no way the crews are just being given 9.5 hours of rest between 15 hour flights, so I can't imagine that's a consideration here.
the late flight from SFO is to let as many pax flying in to SFO to arrive to connect to LY.
the early arrival in SFO will allow pax a full day of connection options to other flights.
many passengers will use SFO to connect to other cities in the USA and other countries.
El al does have a small Premium economy cabin on their 747s. Their was a thin curtain (which was never closed) similar to what is seen on US carriers, and small differences in service, and a placard designating the area. I'm not sure if EL Al charges more for these seats, they did not have a visible difference in leg room or width as far as I could see, or they are merely assigned at random.
They probably have a tricky time scheduling trying to avoid flights that take place on Shabbat
Great to see this route heating up. Long overdue, given the tech reciprocity between the two regions. Would hope there would be some price wars at the front of the planes so I can make a tourist trip!
DECEMBER??????? Ugh. I cant wait that long to go back to Israel....
...and I refuse to fly with United....
guess LAX-EWR-TLV it is.
The main competition would probably take place at the Premium Economy and Economy. The El Al hard product is superior to United's 777-300ER (for both). On the other hand, this competition would benefit the United Elites as more award and GPU upgradable seats will be available. No way the addition of 60 business seats on the days that El Al flies will be sold.
I wonder if United upgraded to a 77W to compete with El Al, or if it was just to accommodate for the high season. Because United actually switches back to the 788 on Oct 28, even before El Al launches the route.