Ben Gurion Airport – El Al Israel Airlines
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In all, Israel’s flag carrier will receive 16 787-8 and 787-9 planes — both bought and leased — by 2020. It expects one more 787 by year-end, a total of seven by the end of 2018 and 14 by the end of 2019.
They will initially fly from Tel Aviv to Newark starting on Oct. 17 and then Hong Kong, London and New York’s JFK airport.
At a ceremony on the tarmac at Ben Gurion International Airport following the airplane’s flight from Seattle, CEO David Maimon said the fleet renewal was new era for El Al, helping it better compete in a fiercely competitive market.
El Al was once the go-to airline for most Israelis thanks to the kind of stringent security that equips planes with missile defense systems.
But it has frustrated customers — particularly business travelers — over the past decade with an ageing fleet that compares poorly with competitors offering newer jets fitted with the latest in hi-tech entertainment and comfort.
Last week, it reported a 53 percent drop in second-quarter net profit due to higher salary and jet fuel costs. Its market share at Ben Gurion Airport fell to 29.5 percent from 34.2 percent a year ago.
“I am sure (because of) this aircraft, most of our passengers will be back, especially the business segment,” Maimon told Reuters on Wednesday.
The average age of El Al’s 19-strong long-haul fleet of Boeing 767s, 747s and 777s is about 19 years, and 14 of them are more than 21 years old. El Al in recent years has renewed its short-haul fleet with 23 Boeing 737 aircraft.
“We have old aircraft. But in two years from now we will have a new fleet. The average age will be about five, six years,” Maimon said, noting the 747s and 767s will be retired.
The new aircraft are expected to cut fuel costs by at least 20 percent.
El Al, which is expanding into North America with nonstop flights to Miami starting in November, retains an all Boeing
“This relationship is almost 70 years old and we don’t have a lot of all-Boeing customers anymore,” said Ray Conner, Boeing’s vice chairman. “The relationship between our company, Israel and El Al is one of the more precious ones we have.”
Graphic on El Al’s market share: http://tmsnrt.rs/2gk2Bo5
“I am sure (because of) this aircraft, most of our passengers will be back, especially the business segment,” Maimon told Reuters on Wednesday.
so long they will not improve customer relations/service, they can buy a Million brand spanking new state of the art aircrafts, they wont be able to lure customers back,,,
There are two reasons that El Al is losing market share:
1) Price!
2) Seats are roomier on other foreign airlines.
These two factors play a major role in people taking foreign airlines such Russian and Polish despite the stop over.
as a t/a i can tell you people are fed up with the lack of customer service and we do you a favor by letting you fly with us attitude. their are other options to choose from and more options being added in the future
it will take a lot more then new planes to win back fed up customers
Less arrogant and more friendly will help
Price – yes; Customer Service – yes – these are very important. However, it will also mean that passenger attitudes in the air will have to change. The aisles are not a bais medrash for shmoozing or davening. Many gedolim have paskened that one should daven at one’s seat rather than preventing a passenger from getting to one of the lavatories. The inyon of tefilah b’tzibbur is clearly superseded by kovod al ha-bri-os at 10,000 meters in the sky.
i have flown Business on ElAl for years and I have switched, whether is was their old 757 that business was likeextra economy or flying on 767 that should have been updated 5 years old. Seats that don’t work does not win customers or every landing always late
They’re losing market share because more airlines are flying to Israel than before, not because they are being abandoned. Their flights are just as full as Delta etc (check stats for the load factor) but they have more competition so the customers are spread over a larger number of airlines.
I agree that even if EL AL had the Concorde in service, it would not make that much difference; as long as the flight attendants, gate attendants, and ticket agents are curt, rude, short tempered, arrogant, “us vs.them attitude”, they will not see an increase in business.
Couple of suggestions for elal…. Serve chulent on Thursdays. What authentic Yid wouldn’t appreciate that?! Have reserve cut serve their Delmonico steak in the business class (catered obviously). Get rid of all those women working there. Only men and preferably only frum men between 40 – 60. Standard separate sections. No reason why they have to keep embarrassing the frum velt with news stories. We all know it’s wrong to have that seating arrangement. Especially when people are sleeping on such long flights.