Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines’ decision to resume daily flights to and from Israel is welcome news for travelers like Elina Kleyman, who plans to fly to Atlanta on Wednesday.
But Kleyman, 26, a Johns Creek resident before living in Tel Aviv for the past year, is still concerned about the violence and whether another missile could land close to Ben Gurion International Airport.
“That’s the thing, there’s no guarantee what tomorrow will be like,” she said during a phone interview Thursday.
Delta restarted its service from New York to Tel Aviv on Thursday — two days after suspending flights there — following “careful internal consideration and input from high levels in government.”
Delta said the Federal Aviation Administration has advised the airline that Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion airport is safe for operations. The FAA late Wednesday evening lifted its ban on flights to Ben Gurion.
“The safety and security of customers and employees is always Delta’s top priority,” Delta said in a written statement.
Until a few days ago, Kleyman had never heard a siren go off there. When she did, she looked out her apartment window and saw two missiles stream overhead.
“This is all so new to me,” she said.
The worst thing would be “not being able to leave,” said Kleyman, who plans to visit family and friends in Atlanta for two months and has a ticket on Delta. “I really feel trapped in a war zone.”
Another traveler, Danielle Kleinman, was in Germany on business and took a few days to visit family in Israel. But now she’s worried about making it back to Atlanta on time.
“Right now, I’m waiting to see when Turkish Air will lift their ban and then go from there,” she said. “There are obviously no safe borders that I could potentially cross and use another airport. So at this point, my only option is the Tel Aviv airport, and therefore to wait it out! I hope to be back in Atlanta by Sunday. Fingers crossed!!!”
Even after the FAA lifted its two-day ban, U.S. airlines didn’t immediately lift their flight suspensions, but did announce the resumption of flights within hours. Delta CEO Richard Anderson had said on Wednesday the company makes its decision to halt flights “wholly independent” of the FAA.
Delta had originally diverted its Tuesday flight after a missile reportedly landed near the city’s Ben Gurion airport when the plane was a couple of hours outside of Tel Aviv. That was a decision made “well before we heard anything from the FAA, because a Hamas missile lands a mile from the airport on the north side where we approach on final in a 747,” Anderson said during a question & answer session about the company’s quarterly financial results.
Delta has security directors in all regions of the world, with “sophisticated capability and methodology to manage these kinds of risks, whether it is this, or a volcano or hurricane. That’s what we do well,” Anderson said.
During an appearance on CNBC Wednesday, Anderson said Delta routinely establishes “what we call Delta no-fly zones.”
Those decisions are made independent of regulatory mandates, he said. He added that the company appreciates the intelligence and information it gets from federal agencies, “but we have a duty and an obligation above and beyond that to independently make the right decision for our employees and passengers.”
Delta contacts customers via an automated e-mail or phone call when a flight is canceled, prompting the customer to call the airline to discuss how they can be rebooked. That’s a key reason travelers should ensure their airline has up-to-date contact information before a flight.
Meanwhile, Delta is still waiving certain change fees for travelers who want to change their flight plans to Israel. The fee waiver extends until Aug. 15 for those willing to rebook their flights for Aug. 31 or later.
Travel agency network Travel Leaders’ chief communications officer Steve Loucks said agents have been working with clients over the last couple of weeks “as the situation escalated” in Israel.
“For most of them, I think over the last few days we’ve had success in getting our clients out of Israel,” Loucks said. “The travel agent’s role doesn’t end until the client is safely home, and that involves reaching out to them during the course of their travels if, in fact, there is an issue that arises, and working with the client to overcome whatever obstacles they may face. And so if somebody is finding that their flight is suddenly canceled leaving a destination like Israel, we’re proactively working with them to find an alternative.”
