Save El Al
El Al, Israel’s national carrier, is in trouble. It needs a bailout because of the massive losses it has suffered since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in March.
The Finance Ministry has proposed a plan for aiding the struggling airline that would entail hundreds of millions of shekels in loans. This complex step would mean that the airline could survive the recent decline in flights and tourism that has forced the company to lay off many employees.
El Al is essential to Israel. The powerful airline, with its modern Dreamliner aircraft, has always symbolized part of what it means to be Israeli. Olim arrive in Israel on El Al flights, as well as tourists from around the world, many of whom break out into spontaneous applause and song upon touchdown. In some parts of the world, El Al has become synonymous with Israel.
El Al’s existence is an example of Israel’s mission to be self-sufficient. We don’t have the privilege of being in a peaceful neighborhood, so we need a fleet of civilian planes. When we look back to the rescue of Ethiopian Jews or other times in our history, it becomes clear how a national carrier, linked to state support, is necessary.
However, that does not mean that El Al gets everything and the public gets nothing. With bailouts come demands and responsibilities. The airline needs to do better in customer service and also to respond better to market conditions.
In Israel we have suffered for decades with fares that are too high. While Europeans can jet across the continent on the cheap, in Israel getting a flight too often seemed like a privilege that only the wealthy could enjoy. For average people it meant much more savings and planning. This was partly because of lack of competition.
Like too many things in Israel, the dogma was that the customer was always wrong, and that our national carrier didn’t have to be like others. Why is that? We are in the Middle East. There is no reason El Al can’t be as good as Emirates or other national airlines. There is no excuse for El Al not being as good as European competitors or Middle Eastern airlines.
During the current crisis, El Al has played a key role, bringing in essential supplies, thousands of masks and medical equipment, while working closely with the government. The airline should be praised for its excellent work.
The company has kept cargo flights moving, but many of the 6,000 employees are on unpaid leave. That is unfair to those employees, and their salaries need to be made up. When we invest in an airline, we can’t invest only in corporate bonuses and the top staff; we have to invest in the long term, and that means the airline has to stand by its employees.
Tourism is not likely to recover for a year. This means we need long-term plans on what comes next. There is talk of Israel entering into agreements with some other countries that have low COVID-19 rates to create special zones for reciprocal tourism. We should be exploring that as a positive first step in opening the skies again to travelers to and from Israel.
Until that happens, a national discussion about El Al is in everyone’s interest. What may come next for Israel’s airlines? It is in our interest to have a variety of airlines and airfares available and also have a national carrier. Israel is an innovative country, and surely innovative ways can be found to make the airline profitable and relevant despite the crisis. There should be less talk focused on the threat of strikes and more of a national conversation about the necessity of solidarity with our national carrier.
Now is a pivotal time for the future of Israel’s national airline. We need to move forward, with a vision of having an affordable national carrier that emerges stronger than before. Israelis deserve it and El Al deserves it.