Competition to Heat Up After El Al Vows to Observe Shabbat

Atlanta…

Delta Airlines, which renewed its daily flights from Atlanta last year, said it was interested in starting a daily flight from New York to Tel Aviv. This follows an agreement between leaders of the Orthodox Jewish community in Israel and abroad with El Al to keep the airline’s planes out of the sky on Shabbat. This is in addition to increased competition from Continental, which has indicated that it may expand its flight schedule to Tel Aviv from North America by adding a daily non-stop flight from Houston to Tel Aviv. The airline already has two flights a day from Newark. Meanwhile, travel agents say that religious travelers who defected during the unofficial boycott by Orthodox Jews over El Al’s flights on Shabbat following a day long strike at Ben Gurion Airport, are slowly returning. Bookings, they say, by Orthodox Jews on El Al, have dramatically risen. However, the agents say that some of the travelers may very well stick with Continental. Delta may have a huge advantage with a New York-Tel Aviv route because of its popular SkyMiles program. A decision by the airline is expected soon.

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