As airlines cancel flights over security concerns, El Al brings its reservists home to defend Israel
Airlines around the world are canceling flights to and from Tel Aviv. Hamas declared Ben Gurion airport target of their attacks.
Normally, around 37,000 passengers land at the airport every day, according to data from Cirium’s Diio Mi. The United States sends the most passengers, although second and third place are occupied by Greece and Turkey, which together send more passengers than the United States.
As airlines around the world cancel flights out of an abundance of caution, even if conditions appear good initially, it’s unclear what the situation will be upon arrival. And it’s also unclear whether the airline will be able to safely transport back its planes and crew. United took a 14 hour flight to nowhere after its San Francisco – Tel Aviv line turned around over Greenland.
El Al, however, sticks to its schedule as much as possible. According to Cirium data, the Israeli airline accounts for 22% of the airport’s operations. They don’t just send passengers out of the country to safety. They are bringing Israeli reservists back into the country to join the 300,000 conscripts. This represents more than 3% of the Israeli population mobilized in addition to the existing armed forces.
An El Al flight from New York lands in Ben Gurion on Monday morning. Passengers on the flight are of all ages, but a disproportionate number are young men returning to Israel to serve in the army, either as enlisted soldiers or reservists. https://t.co/08ttPl3qpR via @timesofisrael
– Safta Miriam (@MiriamSafta) October 9, 2023
United Airlines and American Airlines operated additional flights to evacuate crew, other employees in Israel and unpaid travelers.
Interesting aspect of the war in Israel:
Airlines had to evacuate their crew, employees and families. They did this by making additional flights.
AAL and UAL did it.
While Israeli airline El Al is equipped with missile defense systems, most airlines are not.https://t.co/u3rD6QvNu1 pic.twitter.com/N1nIgwSqQB
— KC-10 Pilot ✈️ ✈️ B-737 Wrangler (@MCCCANM) October 8, 2023
I would add that the pilots and crew who made these flights possible are heroes and, in the case of the American pilots, they worked to save their colleagues. against the advice of their own union.