UPDATE: United Airlines will NOT resume service to Israel on November 24, 2023 as earlier reported. Initial reports, blamed on a public relations agency contracted by United, were incorrect. A United spokesperson told Live And Let’s Fly:
Our Tel Aviv flights will remain suspended until conditions allow them to resume.
The original story is below.
Per Reuters, United Airlines has confirmed it will resume service to Israel on November 24, becoming the US first carrier to officially declare resumption of Tel Aviv flights.
United Airlines Plans To Resume Israel Flights This Month
When war broke out last month after Hamas terrorists invaded Israel and killed over 1,400 civilians, US carriers quickly suspended service to Israel. Within a day, Hamas had fired over 4,000 rockets toward Israel, with targets including Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv. While Israel’s Iron Dome System was able to repel many of the incoming rockets, the uncertainty of the situation moved carriers from around the world to suspend flights.
For the last several weeks, Israeli flag carrier El Al has been one of the only carriers flying to and from Israel (and even operated over Sabbath during this unique time). But as the war enters what could be an extended group phase in the Gaza Strip, United Airlines announced that it will resume service to Tel Aviv in 11 days.
At first, United will only fly between Newark (EWR) and Tel Aviv (TLV). Over time, it plans to bring other flights back.
Delta may resume flights even sooner: its New York (JFK) to TLV flight is scheduled to resume on November 21st. But the carrier has not officially confirmed whether flights will resume and has moved back its scheduled resumption date at several points since the latest conflict began.
Per its schedule, American Airlines will resume Tel Aviv flights on December 4, 2023 but has similarly not made an official announcements.
The news come one month after US lawmakers pressured US carriers to resume carriers to resume service to Israel “as quickly as possible” just a week after the conflict began and offered unspecified assistance to do so.
CONCLUSION
United Airlines will resume Tel Aviv flights on November 24, with Delta and American likely to allow (and Delta potentially resuming flights even sooner). Union pilot representatives at the “Big Three” US carriers have not publicly addressed the resumption of such service, but their cooperation will be necessary in order for these flights to take off.
> Read More: Union Tells American Airlines Pilots To Refuse To Fly To Israel
Wow, the misleading information is real: “Hamas killed over 11,000.” RFL … If I see the wizard, I’m going to ask him to give you a heart *and* a brain.
Thank the lord for AdBlock.
Hamas has blood on its hands for the death of every Palestinian in this conflict.
Agreed. Had Hamas NOT started the attacks against Israel, 11,000 people would have been alive today.
Israel needed an excuse to go after tbe Gazans, and Hamas have it to them.
Is Hamas also reaponsible for the Palestinians in the West Bank who are being slaughtered and driven away from their homes as well?
No. I condemn any such slaughter and land theft.
If only you were as vocal about it as other things.
Israeli officials revised the 10/7 death count down to 1,200 over the weekend, with about 318 being military targets. 1,400 civilians is fake news. Regardless of the exact number, any civilian loss of life is tragic and condemnable. Hamas’ wrongdoing in this does not absolve Israel of its obligations to follow the rules of war and international human rights law. Israel’s hands are just as bloody (especially given the scores of recent killings in the West Bank, where Hamas is not a factor), and we should expect a higher standard from “the only democracy in the Middle East.”
The death counts were and still are hard to put together. Given the number of people killed, the number kidnapped and the number missing/unaccounted for and how slow it can be to identity bodies/body parts/fragments reliably. So a revision of this nature and scale is within the range of what would be expected with honest mistakes in counting for the circumstances.
The number of Gaza’s civilians — especially children — killed by the IDF and the number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank are also subject to revision, but I expect the Gaza count to end up being revised upward a lot when there is a better capacity to put all of the death rolls together and realize that a lot of the unaccounted/missing Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s massive bombardment of Gaza and not just ended up internally displaced and severed from communication and transport means.
Well so much for Thanksgiving in the Sunshine on Hilton Beach!
Unfortunately, there is a continuing risk that Hamas and its other messed up violent backers will end up having one or more explosive projectile that hits a civilian passenger plane. Also, there is also the possibility of “friendly fire” that hits a plane.
In this environment, it’s not a risk I would advise airlines to take for the pursuit of commercial activity.