Washington – Illinois Sen. Mark Kirk (R) called Friday for the Federal Aviation Administration to investigate allegations Delta Airlines blocked Jewish passengers from flying as part of an agreement with a Saudi Arabian airline.
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USA Today reported Thursday on rumors circulating Internet that as part of Saudi Arabian Airlines’s agreement to join Delta’s SkyTeam alliance, Delta would enforce a Saudi ban on passengers from Israel and non-Islamic religious artifacts.
Delta denied the accusation, saying it had a nondiscrimination policy, but Kirk still called for an investigation Friday.
I am deeply concerned by the June 23, 2011, report in USA Today entitled ‘U.S. Jews not able to fly on Delta flights to Saudi Arabia,’ Kirk wrote in a letter to FAA Administrator Randy Babbitt. If true, this policy appears to violate the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause while undermining the purpose of the Federal Aviation Administration – to promote the safety and expansion of U.S. civil aviation.
I request your investigation into this matter to determine whether Delta Airlines violated U.S. law or regulation and to ensure no U.S. citizen is denied their right to fly solely on the basis of their religion, he continued. Since a core mission of the FAA is to promote civil aviation, I would expect the FAA to use its full statutory and regulatory power to ensure that America’s civil airways are not restricted for persons regardless of faith.
Delta sought to tamp down the controversy before Kirk’s letter, taking to its blog on the company’s website to respond to the report, (as was reported here on Vos Iz Neias).
‘U.S. Jews not able to fly on Delta flights to Saudi Arabia’
Which Jew is going to Saudi Arabia anyways?
To # 1,
it’s not about going to saudi Arabia. it’s about Jews flying anywhere aboard an airline that discriminates against Jews (and non-muslims).
What’s more troubling is that that has been the policy of carriers that serve Saudia Arabia, and they operate from US airports.
will delta block arabs flying to tel aviv also?
Just today there is a story about Air-France, who fired a Muslim woman (from Dulles airport) for wearing a Hijab, now she’s filled a lawsuit etc.
Interesting, how things are when the shoe is on the other foot, or when it’s their head covering
This is a gross overreaction. This has NOTHING to do with Delta, and everything to do with the racist, sexist, bigoted Saudi Arabia. If you flew any airline that flies to Saudi Arabia, including British Airways and Lufthansa and many others, you’d have the same issue. Delta is not blocking anyone from flying based on religion. Claiming that they are doing so makes as much sense as claiming that they block people from flying to China if they have no visa – that’s China making the rules, and Delta can’t let you board if you can’t get off the plane. This is a case of misplaced blame. If you want the truth, read today’s blog post on the Wall Street Journal site on this subject.
There have been U.S. Jews who have traveled to Saudi Arabia on business, but it is not publicized, nor does Saudi Arabia encourage Jews to go there. It was only a little over twenty years ago, when Saudi Arabia urged the U.S. Defense Department not to send any Jewish soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines to their country, during the First Gulf War, when over 550,000 U.S. Troops were stationed there. When the Jewish War Veterans protested the contemptuous request of the Saudis, the Defense Dept. made an about face, and denied that it had such a policy. However, it urged Jewish service personnel in Saudi Arabia not to openly display religious artifacts, and to “tone down” any religious services. I believe that it was the first time in over 1,000 years, that services for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur were held in Saudi Arabia!
DavidCohen (# 6) misses the point! While it is true that Delta is just abiding by the Saudi laws (shades of Adolf Eichman’s defense and the defense lines of the Nuremburg defendants), that is just the camel’s nose under the tent. Delta — and all the other players in the airline industry — need to know that discrimination based upon religion is not acceptable. There needs to be a public outcry. There needs to be something other than America just accepting this as a “business as usual” thing!
Remember, this includes stop-over passengers as well.
Delta does not fly to Saudi Arabia and there is no evidence that it engages in discrimination. It does, however, fly to Israel.
Delta is 100 percent correct. It does not discriminate against jews or anyone with an Isreaeli passport. No airline can issue a boarding pass to a destination where the passenger does not have a valid Visa issued by the destination country. Israel will not issue a Visa to citizens of a many arab countries without a very lengthy investigation and has denied boarding passes to American citizens who have been critical of Israeli policy on Palestine and peace negotiations. Delta is enforcing the same rules as El Al, and any other airline. It cannot board a passenger without a valid visa.
To #15 - I really think that you missed my point. The Saudis specifically told the U.S. Defense Department in 1990, that they did not want any U.S. Jewish troops stationed in their country, during the First Gulf War. They did not tell the USA, that they didn’t want any Christian soldiers stationed there. When the U.S. Air Force had a base in Libya (Wheelus Air Force Base), it would not send an Jewish Airmen to Libya, at the request of the Libyans.