Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday night that he planned to fly the Israeli airline El Al into Tel Aviv, after the FAA prohibited all US airlines from flying into that city’s Ben Gurion International Airport because a Hamas rocket had landed nearby.
“This evening I will be flying on El Al to Tel Aviv to show solidarity with the Israeli people and to demonstrate that it is safe to fly in and out of Israel,” Bloomberg said in a statement posted to his website. “Ben Gurion is the best protected airport in the world and El Al flights have been regularly flying in and out of it safely. The flight restrictions are a mistake that hands Hamas an undeserved victory and should be lifted immediately. I strongly urge the FAA to reverse course and permit US airlines to fly to Israel.”
Secretary of State John Kerry also flew into Ben Gurion on Wednesday despite the ban. Kerry arrived in the Middle East to try to broker a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas militants.
This post has been updated.
Forget El Al: Bloomberg should allow full disclosure and fly in on Air AIPAC.
We need something ironic to happen here.
Umm the FAA only controls American carriers. So there was no way in hell El Al was going to follow anything the FAA said. Sort of like Netenyahu paying attention to what the US says, never going to happen if it is not in full agreement with what he is saying and doing.
Someone should remind Kerry of what happened to Count Folke Bernadotte. There is no more hazardous undertaking than trying to interest Israel in peace.
Kerry flew in on a plane equipped with counter measures, and I suspect El Al aircraft also have them (probably the only airline in the world that has them - or needs them).
Pretty soon the aircraft insurers will demand them on every airliner at a whopping expense to to the airlines, with all passed on to us, and by “us” I mean the taxpayer.
Thanks again, Israel! Heckofajob!