At the moment, no US airlines are flying nonstop between the United States and Israel. American hasn’t resumed service since the initial October 7 attacks, while Delta and United have done their best to operate service safely, though there have been multiple suspensions.
Service from these airlines to Israel has at this point been suspended indefinitely, given the rapidly evolving situation. A politician is now taking issue with that, and I can’t help but think he has a really bad take…
Ritchie Torres accuses US airlines of “effectively boycotting” Israel
Democratic US Congressman Ritchie Torres from New York has written a letter to the CEOs of American, Delta, and United. He accuses the airlines of “effectively boycotting” Israel, and demands that they resume service to Israel at once. Here’s the main part of the letter:
I am writing to express concern about the suspension of air travel between the United States and Israel. The suspension has been so prolonged and so pervasive that El Al, an Israeli airline, has become the sole carrier offering direct flights from America to Israel. The lack of competition has made air travel to Israel less available and less affordable, putting customers at the mercy of a de facto monopoly that can easily gouge prices with impunity.
Unlike in 2014, when the FAA forbade air travel to Israel (generating considerable controversy at the time), the American airline industry has arbitrarily and unilaterally imposed its own ban on travel to Israel, independently of an order from the FAA. Airlines should be prohibited from effectively boycotting or otherwise discriminating against the world’s only Jewish State. It is one thing to temporarily suspend air travel to Israel on security grounds as defined by the FAA. But to unilaterally suspend air travel indefinitely until mid-2025, as American Airlines has done, has the practical effect of a boycott. Given the arbitrary length of the suspension, one could be forgiven for thinking that the BDS movement had taken over the American aviation industry without anyone noticing, much less crying foul. By what logic and in what universe is it safe for El Al to travel to Israel but too dangerous for American Airlines, Delta, and United to do so? It is worth noting that UAE airlines like Etihad, FlyDubai, and Wizz Air Abu Dhabi continue to fly to Israel without incident.
We are calling on every American airline to restore air travel to Israel and to operate based on FAA guidance in order to prevent the appearance and the substance of discrimination against the Jewish State.
What a bizarre thing to accuse US airlines of
The Israel and Palestine conflict is of course incredibly divisive, so I want to unpack these claims in an objective way.
To start, let’s be honest — there’s absolutely nothing that airline CEOs want more than to maximize profitability. That’s especially true when you consider that United is quickly catching up to Delta when it comes to financial results, and United has also historically been (by far) the strongest US airline in Israel. Israel is also an incredibly lucrative market for airlines, especially with the current capacity landscape, and it’s why EL AL has reported record profitability in the past year.
US airlines aren’t currently flying to Israel both due to direct security concerns, and also because they aren’t able to do so reliably. Just a few weeks ago, Iran threatened direct retaliation against Israel, after Israel killed Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh via a missile strike.
It doesn’t make sense for airlines to constantly launch service, only to then suspend it when the next security concern arises. Airlines need to be able to do consistent fleet planning, and they can’t just have planes sitting around, in hopes of maybe being able to fly to Israel.
The current challenge is just that Israel service can’t be operated reliably enough for it to make sense for US airlines, and that’s that. I can guarantee that US airline executives (including those working in fleet planning) aren’t somehow conspiring to “punish” Israel.
Two parts of the letter stand out to me. First of all, there’s this:
The American airline industry has arbitrarily and unilaterally imposed its own ban on travel to Israel, independently of an order from the FAA. Airlines should be prohibited from effectively boycotting or otherwise discriminating against the world’s only Jewish State.
I can’t tell if Torres is simply trying to score some cheap points, or honestly believes this?
- Airlines can “unilaterally” end service wherever they’d like; aside from Essential Air Service markets or airports with slot controls that have “use it or lose it” provisions, of course they can fly whatever they want to, and they should be able to
- To equate temporarily suspending service to Israel after Iran vowed direct retaliation against Israel to “effectively boycotting or otherwise discriminating against the world’s only Jewish State” is ridiculous
Then there’s this tidbit:
By what logic and in what universe is it safe for El Al to travel to Israel but too dangerous for American Airlines, Delta, and United to do so?
I guess Torres really didn’t do his research here:
- EL AL aircraft are equipped with special safety features, including anti-missile systems, which the aircraft of US airlines aren’t equipped with
- EL AL is exclusively based in Israel, so flying to and from the country is literally EL AL’s only option; the alternative would just be to shut down
- EL AL operates with a deep commitment to Israel, and the Jewish faith; I mean, the airline doesn’t even fly on the Sabbath
- US airlines generally err more on the side of caution than some other carriers when it comes to the conditions under which they’ll fly to a destination, to minimize risk; for that matter, the unions at US airlines generally object to flying to destinations if there are legitimate safety concerns
Bottom line
A US Congressman from New York is accusing US airlines of boycotting Israel by suspending service to the country. While there are all kinds of legitimate cases that could be made about discrimination, this isn’t among them.
US airlines have suspended flights to Israel over safety concerns, and because of how unreliably they’ve been able to operate this service, in light of the rapidly evolving situation. The reason EL AL has been able to continue flying is because the airline operates on a different level when it comes to safety, and also because EL AL has no other option — the airline would otherwise have to shut down.
What do you make of Torres’ letter to airline CEOs?
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