Can Arkia Or Israir Break Up El Al’s De Facto Monopoly On Nonstop Flights Between The US And Israel?

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El Al has recorded quarter after quarter of record profits as most foreign airlines stay away from Israel.

All airlines have pricing algorithms that drive prices up when demand goes up. Is El Al gouging? I don’t think that’s the case, but obviously, it can charge much more when it has such a dominant market position.

North American carriers Air Canada, American, Delta, and United have remained on the sidelines. Yes, they would like to fly to Israel and take their share of the profits. However, unionized crews have refused to fly to a war zone, let alone overnight there, insuring planes can be difficult, and frequent cancellations have wreaked havoc with even planning a return date to Israel. Airlines are canceling Israel flights further out and suspending service indefinitely so they don’t tie up aircraft that could be better utilized on new routes.

Tech leaders in Israel are unhappy about the cost of El Al flights as well as the lack of seat availability and are looking for other options.

Of course, that demand of Israel’s flag carrier is a catch-22. If El Al would lower the cost of flights below what the pricing algorithms calculate to be optimal for the market to bear, it would create artificial scarcity and make finding available seats even more difficult than it is today. That would lead to even more complaints about seat availability, which is why El Al finds itself in a no-win situation as it reports record profits. Sure, it could technically lower prices below the market rate, but doing so would create an artificial scarcity of available seats which would be trading one problem for another.

Israel’s Channel 12 reports that with backing from Israel’s tech sector, Arkia and Israir have received government approval to operate 10 weekly flights between the US and Israel.

Israir last operated between the US and Israel in 2008.

Arkia had planned to purchase, and even configured 2 Airbus A330-900neos in Toulouse to operate flights between the US and Israel, but that never came to fruition.

As it stands now, neither airline has any widebody planes or crew that can fly a widebody, so they would have to wet lease them from an operator abroad, with crew from that operator.

I am deeply skeptical about whether they can pull that off.

El Al has been able to operate consistently because their crew is based in Israel.

Finding a European crew willing to fly to Israel and stay overnight in Israel as will be needed to operate nonstop flights between the US and Israel, will be very difficult if not impossible. And even if it can be done, the crew will balk at flying to Israel when tensions rise, which is why almost no European airlines are currently flying to Israel.

Arkia and Israir have struggled operationally this year in large part due to wet-leased aircraft and operators that have balked at times about operating to Israel, even when their crews aren’t overnighting in Israel. That will be exacerbated if they try replicating that with long-haul routes on widebody planes with overnighting in Israel.

In order to operate, Arkia and Israir are demanding that Israel pause its Aviation Services law which requires airlines to compensate passengers for delays and cancelations. That shows their confidence in being able to operate effectively in the current environment.

And with El Al selling their flights between the US and Israel at nearly full flight loads, it will be a challenge to accommodate stranded passengers or for passengers to find another way back in case of delays or cancelations.

Arkia and Israir would also have to ramp up customer service lines to deal with that kind of influx. And if you think El Al’s website is stuck in the past, just try using the Arkia or Israir websites…

The real solution to the capacity issues will be the return of foreign carriers and especially the North American carriers, but that seems unlikely to happen until the multifront war concludes.

Do you think the Arkia or Israir flights will come to fruition? Will you book travel on them?


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97 Comments On "Can Arkia Or Israir Break Up El Al’s De Facto Monopoly On Nonstop Flights Between The US And Israel?"

All opinions expressed below are user generated and the opinions aren’t provided, reviewed or endorsed by any advertiser or DansDeals.

Israeli

El Al has wetleased from KlasJet based in Lithuania for short distance European flights. The flight crew temporarily relocated to Tel Aviv. Perhaps Arkia or Israir can work with KlasJet

Dave

I’m sure you heard of the charter flights there were on tishrei back and forth from New York ללכת although that was not a flawless
They used 772 from the 2000s operation it was Eastern it was a very good alternative for a very reasonable price
Having said that I wish they would continue this but why can a different Jewish organization for travel agency not arrange charters like they did

MoG

They better. We need lower priced options.

Don

If Lalechet can do it why can’t they ?

Aaron

Thank you Dan for presenting a clear eyed approach to the El Al pricing catch-22! As you said, it’s basic economics; if El Al were to lower its prices below market rates then seats would be snatched up as soon as they open up (likely by eagle-eyed DDFers 😉 ) and people who really needed to fly wouldn’t be able to. For some the reason the rest of the Jewish/Israeli media forgot (or never learned) Econ 101. Dan, I think it’s time for you to start blogging on current events full time! We need more of your balanced perspective.

Goodyidd

I don’t think it’s so much of a availability issue, if you work with a travel agent they’ll be able to get you a seat, but for enormous costs, the reason is that travel agents keep all seats locked up using a couple of techniques.

Just saying

Friends Don’t Let Friends Fly Arkia… Please save yourself the aggravation…
Don’t trust me. Check this out
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Airline_Review-d8729023-Reviews-Arkia-Israel-Airlines

Dovid G.

And מחלל שבת

Shmeelu

To answer your question, simply 100% absolutely

David

Good article, one point you forgot to mention is that the EL Al planes give some confidence that they have a missile defense system onboard. I think during wartime, especially, some would have less confidence flying on planes without these defenses into Israel. and a worst case scenario is perhaps, without that some might even be targeted.

I realize not everybody thinks about the above, but I have always had a sense that ElAl is the safest way to fly there. Especially these days.

Ericgnd

I wonder how many frum or at least israeli flight attendants work for foreign carriers who would be willing to do OT or something for arkia or israir… im sure some israelis would be willing to work as a flight attendant.

Yy

Lol I believe israir is owned by elal

Moishy

It’s owned by Israeli millionaire Rami Levy

Abe

It dosen’t make sense.
Rami Levy is shomer shabbos.

yAy

And so is Israir!

yAy

I couldn’t care less about your wiki, try to find a flight from Israir that operates on Shabbos!
Pls let me know…

Yed

Unfortunately Israir is Michalel Shabbos by operating several flights each Shabbos. (check their website for Athens, London, Barcelona…)
When Rami Levi first stepped in he did say the airline will not operate on Shabbos and they even aligned their schedule accordingly. But later on. without any public statements they started operating on Shabbos R”L.

Don\'t fly Arkia or Israir
Ben

Flew Arkia for the first time today from Budapest to TLV. Their website is the worst I have ever experienced. Very limited English on the website, and zero way to figure out how to access my reservation. Seems that unlike other airlines that use a 6 digit alphanumeric confirmation number, Arkia uses a 7 or 8 digital numerical “order number”, which you receive by email ONLY IF YOU MAKE THE RESERVATION DIRECTLY ON THE ARKIA WEBSITE. I made reservation through Amex Travel (by phone- cuz Arkia doesn’t show on the Amex site), so I never got that order number, so zero way to find my reservation.
Also, when trying to check in, for some reason you need to put in name, reservation number, flight date, and departure airport (chosen from a drop down menu), and Budapest wasn’t even in the drop down menu. Lol.
When I finally got to Budapest and ran to the ticket desk, service was great and within seconds I had a boarding pass. I commented about the drop down menu and the agent laughed and admitted it’s insane that BUD doesn’t show online when they operate the flight daily.
Even though Arkia is known as a “Spirit” type low cost carrier, I had no problem boarding with a small Samsonite rollerboard Underseater and a regular size backpack without having to pay anything extra. They did offer on board water for free, but soft drinks and coffee were $3.
Plane was mostly empty, and I had my whole row to myself. Legroom was spirit-like, but flight was smooth and uneventful. There were no seat back screens of course, nor plugs by any seats.
I cannot imagine this airline working for english speaking Americans without major frustrations, unless they seriously revamp the website, check in system, and have their flights bookable through online travel sites. Obviously they will need bigger and better equipped planes to travel such long distances too.

Avi

The 7-8 digit order number is common in Japan too. It makes no sense. Must be an anachronism from some legacy software that refuses to die.

Shmooger

If you bought your tickets on a third-party website, you may not see that seven or eight digit number from the website you need to call or email the airline and they will give you that number

Dror

Right now only Delta and Emirates fly direct to Athens and connecting flights are not great. Since Delta and El Al are already partners, the solution here would be for Delta to increase flights to Athens by 1 or even two flights a day and El Al essentially run a shuttle service where likely two short haul planes wait in Athens to meet each flight and complete the hop to Israel. This could be done as a code share and their would be straight luggage transfers.

Avi2

Do you think it would be feasible to do a refueling stop along the way. Maybe tlv-dublin-nyc

Jake

Dan it seems like you are putting the evil eye on this proposal.

Mordy

Why can’t one of the smaller carriers work out an agreement To fly the one hour to LCA And then direct from there via (United) to New York. And it will be the whole plane that switches airplanes So if there’s a delay , plane would wait. I understand that’s not direct, but it’s pretty close

Mille_Bornes

Elal may not be able to do anything about the flight pricing and seat availability (as you explained, thank you) but they should still be able to hire more customer service agents and be more customer friendly. Two nights ago I tried to contact Elal through the whatsapp number (it was daytime in Israel) and got a “How can I help you?” ELEVEN hours later, like it was normal. When I complained, the rep said sorry they have over 2000 people in queue. Something is wrong there.

Sur

Why doesn’t Elal just buy more aircraft with all these profits?

J Bowers

I’ve been looking for availability on Elal from TLV to NYC the week after chanuka, and I wasn’t having any luck. Just this morning, Elal added another flight (the seat map looks like the flight is completely empty).
Can they do this as often as they want?

jack

Why are these websites only in Hebrew????

Shmooger

Because their flights are full from Israeli citizens only, so no need to spend extra money
Both of these airlines are technically more tour companies for Israelis that do full packages to vacation destinations that include hotels as well. That is their model of business.

You can order an extra seat is just an additional for them to fill up their aircraft

Regardless, Israir does actually have an English website, which is actually quite limited because once you book your ticket if you wanna make any changes to your itinerary, such as at baggage or reserve seats, you need to do it in the Hebrew side of the site
https://www.israirairlines.com

Moshe Chaim

Dan’s conclusions are exactly right. Arkia is a disaster if an airline. Flights rarely depart on time, that is even if they are not cancelled. Arkia claims it does not have to respect EU legislation on flight disruption compensation. It has zero customer service even when the department is open, and it closes at 5pm! It is a joke to imagine that hi tech execs will fly with these jokers. Hi tech people are used to flying Business Class on US and / or European carriers which make even El Al, which is now much improved, look like a cheap imitation.

Work-for-ur-muny

“North American carriers Air Canada, American, Delta, and United have remained on the sidelines.”

Just curious about your thought process when listing these airlines. Did you list them deliberately in alphabetical order so as to avoid promoting one over the other?

Been There

My opinion

No. Not even a chance.
Thanks to Dan, i got into miles and i booked a ticket to Rome with United points and El Al with Chase portal preferred less than 24 hours before the flight (and had 24 hours to cancel!) For a family engagement.

United has the American white glove service and kept offering their credit card and thanks g their customers

The difference in the ElAl flight was stark. They are efficient, they have grit, they nearly took off right after the last person (me) got on the plane.

They have the business down to a science.
No start up can compete with their expertise.

Mi

Why are airlines willing to fly to Lebanon?

Will

All I can add is I had similar experience with arkia reservation system. Their website is only Hebrew and very difficult to navigate. When trying to book on other websites, it seems their algorithm plays with the system and doesn’t allow the booking. Each time I attempted to complete the booking it said change of time and kept on bouncing back-and-forth.
Finally getting a reservation on their website, they changed the flight time from 4 pm to 5 am. Doesn’t seem like they have what it takes to service the American public to Israel.

Lamdan

artificial scarcity definition?

I Thought that meant creating scarcity by lowering supply to manipulate markets.

When There is no actual ability to add supply = actual scarcity.

True that lowering the price will cause the scarcity , however , being that the cost will still be at or above the Normal price range for the this market it shouldn’t be referred to as artificial.

Please correct me if I’m wrong,

Anonymous

First they got to get normal websites and figure out how to do customer service

Avi

Maybe this is the ideal time to set up a halachic airline exclusively owned and operated by Charedim. Charedi pilots and flight attendants serving every hashgacha imaginable with seating separated by gender. It’s enough of the bad pr from flying non-halachic airlines. DansDeals Airlines??

Abe

It almost came to be with Catskill Airways.

Shmooger

If not for tower air going Bust, it probably would’ve happened. They just owed Catskill express too much money

Avi

Bring back TowerAir! If anyone knows Morris Nachtomi this is the perfect time to get in touch

Shmooger

Morris is too old to do anything like this today (if he’s still alive, he should be somewhere in California) and he walked off with too much money from Tower air to even go back into the business anymore. He’d rather not open that can of worms. (Those who know, know!)
Interestingly enough, Claude Galbinski was looking into hoping another startup with doing that just a few years ago, right before Covid. Thankfully, that was stopped on time. Otherwise it would’ve folded also.
Most recently there was another attempt to do that just around two years ago, I forgot who the person behind it was.

Regardless, let’s hope the prices come down somehow

Don\'t fly Arkia or Israir

מחלל שבת and liberals that absolutely HATE you nevermind the horrible service and zero reliability

Radical Airlines

Agree

john

I don’t give this any chance of success. By the time they would get this going the US airlines will be back and would make this entire idea a big money loser for them

Shmooger

Honestly if you look at the passenger base that US airlines main clientele is not Charedim. Any airlines such as Israel who would be coming into the space will more be sharing their passenger base with LY then with the US Legacy carriers.

American, Delta & United (@Dan that was for you) always had a completely different atmosphere on their flights than LY.
LY is a shteebel with minyanim, nonstop tekias shofer, shiurim and people changing seats.
The legacy carriers are quiet, respectful flights so it’s a completely different clientele base.

Eliyahu

I really think one of the us based airlines needs to make some sort of agreement with an airline that is still operational whether that is blue bird, israir or arkia. This way you can book a connecting flight through Europe that isn’t a self transfer. The fear of self transfers is there is no insurance if I miss my flight. If there is some type of arrangement that can allow me to book tlv to FCO on blue bird, and FCO to EWR on United. United would just get more passengers on that flight, what do they have to lose?

Plini

Israir = Mogadishu airlines

Esther

I remember the days of tower air. They were a low cost and didn’t have the bells and whistles of elal. I don’t understand why can’t we get a crew from Israel and and get this show on the road, and break the monopoly of el al.

Shmooger

It’s not a problem I can do it for you just send me about $100 million

User

The main reason people pay an expensive price currently is to to travel agent high mark-ups…

Shelly

Any update (Dec. 17) on this?

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