On October 7, 2023, Israel was attacked by 5,000 Hamas terrorists. Over 1200 people were killed and 251 kidnapped to Gaza.
Another casualty of the attack, and the subsequent assault Israel launched on Gaza, was continues airline service to the Holy Land. Although there was no official FAA warning, as there was in the previous 2014 war, American carriers Delta, United, and American airlines stopped flying to Israel, which for long periods was fighting a 7-front war.
As of March 14, none of the Big Three U.S. international airlines, American, Delta and United, fly to Israel. In fact a quick search showed the only non-stop available departing NY on March 13, returning on March 28 was El Al. The lowest cost economy ticket was $2511 round trip for the 11-hour non-stop flight. Business class travelers face similar prices and lack of seat availability.
If you were willing to travel even longer to save money, there were 74 flights available with one stop, on airlines like Aegean, LOT-Polish, Brussels, Austrian Airlines, and ITA. My son flew from London to Tel Aviv this way. The least expensive round-trip from the NY area to Israel and back was about $1250, or about half what El Al was charging.
Even Emirates is flying to Israel from New York airports, although this require a 20-hour-plus journey through Dubai (DXB.)
Unsurprisingly, as essentially the only game in town, El Al’s profit grew from $117 million in 2023 to $545 million in 2024, while load factor increased from 86% to 94%. This occurred in an environment where the passenger total at Ben Gurion Airport dropped 34%. As El Al put it, “The ongoing flight cancellations by foreign airlines in 2024, due to the changing and challenging security situation, have forced us to handle unprecedented demand.”
Delta’s codeshare agreement with EL AL has no doubt directed even more customers to the packed Israeli airline. As Delta put it, “This partnership enables Delta customers to book EL AL’s nonstop flights to Tel Aviv from major U.S. cities such as New York-JFK, Newark, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami and Fort Lauderdale.”
Starting last August, U.S. Congressman Ritchie Torres (D-NY) has been talking to U.S. airlines about what he calls an ‘effective boycott’ of Israel.
“If the FAA were to conclude that it is too dangerous to travel to Israel, then every airliner should defer to the security assessment of the FAA. The trouble is that the FAA has said nothing. The silence has been deafening,” Torres told Fox News in November. “If the war were to end tomorrow, why would you need to prolong the suspension until 2y025? And so the suspension of air travel from the United States to Israel has been so prolonged and so pervasive that it has the practical effect of a boycott.”
Political pressure and the current ceasefire and hostage handover may finally be having an effect. Pent-up demand may also make the route profitable for U.S. carriers.
Starting on March 15, United Airlines will resume service from the U.S. to Israel, including non-stop flights.
Delta announced it will resume Tel Aviv service from New York-JFK on April 1. The airline will utilize its Airbus A330-900neo aircraft to provide customers with nearly 2,000 weekly seats, critical considering the number of passengers who will visit Israel for the upcoming holidays.
Is it safe? Delta said, “Delta’s decision to resume service follows a comprehensive security review, conducted in close coordination with government and private-sector partners. The airline continues to prioritize the safety of its customers and crews and has implemented additional precautions for operations to and from Tel Aviv.”
However, there is no movement from American Airlines, which has not flown to Israel since October 6, 2023.
According to an American Airlines spokesperson, “American continuously evaluates its network and we have nothing new to share at this time regarding Tel Aviv service. Customers who are planning travel to Israel can purchase tickets on aa.com on flights operated by our partner airlines that serve Tel Aviv.”
It’s true that the competitive landscape is finally changing on flights to Israel. In February, Arkia Airlines began offering nonstop roundtrip service between the United States and Israel. Arkia, formerly a regional carrier in Israel, is flying the route with a an Airbus A330-900neo widebody leased from Iberojet three times a week. Passenger capacity ranges from 260 to 300 passengers.
The Israeli government has also launched a support program to help compensate airlines in the event of flight cancellation due to the security situation. But Israel has a long way to get back to its tourism peak of 2019, when 4.5 million travelers (including 971,000 from the U.S.) visited the country. Since then, COVID-19 and the October 7 war have substantially impacted the tourism industry. In 2024, just 961,000 total tourists visited, a 68% decline from 2023.
Non-stop flights from Delta and United will certainly increase travel between the U.S. and Israel.
But as Congressman Torres put it when I contacted him at the end of February 2025, “The public deserves an explanation from American Airlines on why it does not agree with Delta and United that it is acceptable to resume service to Israel. A lack of proper and compelling explanation gives the impression that an ideological boycott against the Jewish State is ongoing.”