American Airlines suspends Israel flights until 2025

(JNS) — American Airlines has announced that it is suspending service to and from Tel Aviv through the end of next summer.

The move, which was reported by Israeli travel agencies on Sunday, means AA’s daily non-stop service from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport to Tel Aviv will not resume until September 2025 at the earliest.

“To provide customers with certainty when planning travel to Tel Aviv, we are expanding our travel alert to allow customers whose travel plans are impacted to rebook their itinerary for travel involving a partner airline or cancel for a refund,” the airline said in a statement.

The Dallas-based airline has not operated flights to and from Tel Aviv since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel, the longest suspension of service of the three U.S. legacy carriers.

Israel’s flagship carrier El Al is currently the only airline offering non-stop service to and from the United States.

The Atlanta-based Delta Airlines is scheduled to resume flights to Israel from New York on April 1, 2025, while the Chicago-based United Airlines, which used to operate the most flights to Israel of all the U.S. carriers, has canceled its service to Tel Aviv indefinitely.

The dearth of flights between Tel Aviv and New York has led to skyrocketing prices on the most popular route out of Tel Aviv and spurred an ongoing investigation against El Al for price gouging.

Israeli travel experts said on Sunday that American’s decision to further delay flights was not surprising.

“American Airlines has never been enthusiastic about flying to Tel Aviv and her debut here was an unmitigated disaster,” Mark Feldman, Jerusalem Director of Diesenhaus Tours, told JNS, noting that business travelers have routinely avoided the carrier due to its many cancellations even before the war broke out last year, while their economy fares were typically non-refundable, unlike their competitors.  “Bottom line, when the war ends her absence will not be felt.”