American Airlines Will Not Return to Tel Aviv Until 2027

American Airlines has formally extended the suspension of its New York JFK to Tel Aviv service through January 2027, the airline confirmed on Sunday, May 17, pushing back a return that has now been delayed, cancelled, rescheduled, and cancelled again across a span of more than two and a half years. When the route finally resumes, it will mark the first time the carrier has served Israel since October 7, 2023, a hiatus of over three years and three months that leaves American as the most cautious of the three major US legacy carriers on the Tel Aviv corridor, with both Delta and United maintaining September 2026 restart targets. The Doha, Qatar service from Philadelphia has been shelved to the same January 2027 date.

The Extension and the Reason

American Airlines isn't expected to resume flights to either Tel Aviv, Israel, or Doha, Qatar, until January 2027 due to the continuing security situation in the Middle East and uncertainty over whether a lasting peace deal can be struck with Iran. 

According to sources cited by trusted aviation insider Jon NYC on X, the Texas-based carrier is planning to resume flights on January 5, 2027, hoping that the long lead time will mean that there aren't any security concerns in the region when services finally restart. 

American's official statement was brief, consistent, and operationally focused:

 "We will proactively reach out to impacted customers of this schedule adjustment, offering options in line with our customer-friendly schedule change policy." 

The US carrier previously put Tel Aviv flight services on hold through September 7, amid the war with Iran. That September 2026 restart date has now been abandoned entirely in favour of an early January 2027 target, itself a date that the airline's own history suggests carries no guarantee of certainty.

A Timeline of Repeated Delays

American Airlines first suspended its flights on the New York JFK to Tel Aviv route on October 7, 2023, following Hamas' terrorist attack on Israel. While Delta and United Airlines both tried to resume flights to Tel Aviv over the next two years, American refused even to consider returning to Israel before a long-term peace agreement with Hamas was reached. 

The resumption that finally appeared to be taking shape in late 2025 came with symbolic weight. In October 2025, Israel's Minister of Transportation, Miri Regev, travelled to the United States to personally appeal to American Airlines executives, setting up a planned daily service utilising the advanced Boeing 777-200 fleet. The route was planned to be operated daily by a Boeing 777-200 with the outbound flight departing New York JFK at 11:25 PM and arriving at Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport the following evening at 5 PM. 

To mark the resumption of flights, American Airlines was going to use the flight number AA-18 for the outbound flight. In Jewish culture, the number 18 holds special significance and corresponds to the Hebrew word chai, which means 'life.' 

Flights were expected to restart on March 28, 2026, but then the joint US and Israeli military offensive against Iran started, throwing American's plans into disarray. 

The Doha Flight That Became a Flight to Nowhere

The extension of the Tel Aviv suspension was accompanied by equal disruption to American's Doha service. American Airlines suspended flights to the Qatari capital Doha on March 1 when the US/Israeli military operation on Iran started. At the time the strikes began, American Airlines' daily flight AA-120 from Philadelphia to Doha had just passed Spain en route to Qatar. Rather than diverting the flight to an alternative airport, the pilots were ordered to return all the way back to Philadelphia. The Boeing 787 Dreamliner performed a U-turn over the Mediterranean Sea and flew back over the Atlantic Ocean, arriving back where it started more than 16 hours in a 'flight to nowhere' of epic proportions. 

Philadelphia-Doha has become collateral damage in a much wider regional problem. American launched the Doha route in 2022 after finally putting its dispute with Qatar Airways behind it, and the service quickly proved more useful than many expected. 

Why Flying Near the Conflict Zone Remains So Challenging

The primary danger for airliners is the risk of a civilian jet being misidentified and shot down by military air defense systems from one of the different armed forces simultaneously engaged in the conflict. Aircraft operating near the Eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East have also experienced safety-of-flight risks in the form of severe GPS interference and spoofing. This triggers false terrain avoidance alerts, forcing flight crews to fly on secondary navigation systems.

The problem is that yields alone cannot rescue a route when insurance costs jump, crews face added risk, and usable airspace becomes a day-by-day question rather than an operating assumption. 

Where Delta and United Stand

American's January 2027 position stands in sharp contrast to its two major US competitors. Delta intends to resume Atlanta to Tel Aviv flights on November 30, 2026. Delta's New York JFK to Tel Aviv service will resume on September 6. A planned new Delta service between Boston and Tel Aviv has been suspended until further notice. 

United Airlines currently plans to resume flights to both Tel Aviv and Dubai on September 7, 2026. 

The divergent timelines reveal how individual carriers are assessing risk differently, with some prioritising a faster market re-entry while others adopt a longer-term wait-and-see approach. 

El Al's Monopoly and Its Consequences

With the Big Three American carriers still grounded, only Israeli carriers El Al and Arkia offer direct, nonstop flights to and from the US. 

El Al continues to operate nonstop flights to New York JFK, Newark, Los Angeles, Miami, and Boston with as many as 55 weekly flights during peak summer periods.

The commercial consequences of that monopoly have been predictable. With limited nonstop options from New York, airfares to Israel have risen sharply during the busy summer travel season.

Mark Feldman, CEO of Jerusalem's Ziontours, told JNS: 

“This pattern of American Airlines oscillating between flying to Israel and then pulling out dates back to its merger with US Airways back in 2013, and it has been playing possum with both Israeli and U.S. clients since. It is time American Airlines removes Israel from all its future plans, or at least until its next big merger.”

Israir has said it plans to launch New York service but has not set a start date.

US Carrier Tel Aviv Operations

Aircraft for AA18/AA19: Boeing 777-200 (planned). El Al operates Boeing 787-9 and 787-8 on US routes. All times local. Passengers with American Airlines bookings to Tel Aviv or Doha should contact the airline directly for rebooking and refund options per its customer-friendly schedule change policy.