United Airlines Becomes Latest Foreign Carrier to Resume Flights to Tel Aviv

Many foreign carriers suspended service to Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) near Tel Aviv amid the October 7 attacks and Israel's military campaign in the Gaza Strip. Three U.S. carriers - American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and United Airlines - suspended their routes serving Israel from various U.S. destinations. However, United will become the first American carrier to resume flying to Tel Aviv by reinstating nonstop flights from its Newark (EWR) hub. 

Former Flights from the U.S. to Israel

American, Delta, and United offered flights from several U.S. cities to accommodate the demand for travel to Israel and the Palestinian territories. These are the routes each airline served:

• American Airlines: New York (JFK). The carrier also served Miami (MIA), but this route ended due to competition from Israel's flag carrier, El Al.
• Delta Air Lines: Atlanta (ATL), Boston (BOS), New York (JFK).
• United Airlines: Chicago-O'Hare (ORD), Newark (EWR), San Francisco (SFO), Washington-Dulles (IAD)

[SFO,TLV],[ORD,TLV],[ATL, TLV],[IAD, TLV],[EWR,TLV],[JFK,TLV],[BOS,TLV],[MIA,TLV]

United Airlines

United will only reinstate flights to Israel from Newark. The service will initially operate on March 2 and 4, with stops at Munich (MUC) "to ensure all service providers are ready to support non-stop service to and from Newark." Regularly scheduled nonstop flights will resume on March 6, with all flights using Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner aircraft.

Despite safety concerns surrounding the flight resumption, United has carefully coordinated with regulatory and safety organizations within the airline industry to ensure safety is not compromised for passengers and crewmembers. United's CEO Scott Kirby said, "[they] will continue to monitor the situation in Tel Aviv and adjust the schedule as needed." 

The airline is optimistic regarding its decision, even discussing a second daily flight from Newark in May, provided it is safe and profitable enough to do so. United will reevaluate if it will resume service from Chicago-O'Hare, San Francisco, and Washington-Dulles in the fall. 

American Airlines and Delta Air Lines

American and Delta have been less headstrong than United in resuming service to Tel Aviv. Both airlines are concerned about safety and a weak U.S.-Israel market. Delta plans to tentatively resume service to Tel Aviv from New York-JFK on May 1. Although there is no set date for the reinstatement of flights from Atlanta or Boston, sources suggest the routes could return by the fall. The dates depend on safety and market conditions.

American Airlines will be the last U.S. airline to resume service to Tel Aviv from New York-JFK, which will happen on October 28 at the earliest. If this start date stays the same, then American would not have served Israel for more than a year. It is not ready to return to Tel Aviv as early as possible, mainly due to safety threats to crewmembers doing a stopover in Israel. Compared to United and Delta, which have many European partner airlines that already resumed flights to Israel, there currently is little Oneworld presence in Tel Aviv. Only British Airways plans to resume flights to Tel Aviv on April 1.