A
SURVEY OF EL AL AIRLINES IN WAR TIMES
By
Dr. Harold Goldmeier with assistance from Leora
Cohen, Bella Katz, and Moriah Rosenthal.
Dr. Harold teaches at Touro College Jerusalem. He is
an award-winning entrepreneur receiving the Governor's Award for family
investment programs in the workplace from the Commission on the Status of
Women. He was a Research and Teaching Fellow at Harvard. Harold is a
Managing Partner of an investment firm, a business management consultant, a
free public speaker on business, social, and public policy issues, and taught
international university students in Tel Aviv.
El Al is Israel’s flag-carrying national airline. It
is prospering from the Hamas war recording its best first financial quarter of
the fiscal year in the firm’s history. That is not as cringe-worthy as it seems
at first glance. The company’s revenue in the first quarter of 2024 was 48%
higher than the first quarter of 2023. Profit topped $80M.
When other major carriers erratically canceled
flights and ultimately ghosted Israel after Hamas invaded, El Al swiftly added
routes. Planes were packed with passengers and cargo. Ticket prices doubled and
tripled, as weeks turned into months. The company CEO unashamedly told the
press, to paraphrase, that is what happens when the competition folds under
pressure.
My students in our Entrepreneurship class at Touro
College Jerusalem surveyed a small sample of the English-speaking public at
random in May to gain insights into the public persona of
El Al is under stress.
Over decades of Middle East conflict, commercial
airlines kept flying into Israel. They dealt with threats from terrorists’
missiles and anti-aircraft weapons. Flight crews operated in the liminal state
between life and death. Open Skies sent a political message in addition to
underpinning the nation’s commercial development.
In October 2023, alerts were issued warning pilots
that a commercial plane might be mistaken for an enemy aircraft. There were
warnings of debris in the sky from missile intercepts; manipulation of Internet
location services to fool invaders; and GPS spoofing potentially affecting
flight patterns. Pilots faced uncertainties about where to land in emergencies.
In wartime, insurance premiums skyrocket. Planes had to carry extra fuel in
case of diversions to other airports. Delays in take-offs and landings add to
costs and money lost.
El Al is a cultural icon as well as a commercial
venture. A blue and white Jewish star is the El Al symbol on every plane’s
tail; the airline is woven into the fabric of the nation. Hostages in Entebbe?
Divert El Al jumbo jets to extract them. Refugees fleeing Ethiopia? Build
clandestine runways in the Sudan desert, rip out the seats in El Al jets, and
pack men, women, and children on the floor for flights to their Biblical
homeland. Rescue plans have sobriquets like Operation Solomon, Operation Magic
Carpet, and Operation Ezra and Nechemia. El Al sent a plane to bring captured
Nazi mass murderer Eichmann from Argentina to Israel for trial.
It is the only airline equipped with onboard missile
defense systems. Its airplanes did not fly Friday night until sundown Saturday
night for 40 years until the state’s rabbis permitted Sabbath flights to bring
home soldiers and military cargo from overseas after the invasion of Israel by
Hamas.
The company is under relatively new management;
kudos to them for keeping Israel's skies open to the public, essential cargo
flowing into Israel, and turning a profit. There are problems they need to fix.
Here are highlights and lowlights from our findings.
El Al profited despite offering discounts to
passengers rushing to Israel to rejoin military service units and a flurry of
diplomats flying to foreign capitals. El Al became a lifeline for supplies when
Red Sea ships became Houthi targets carrying cargo for the war effort and
commercial goods for the public. Despite fewer tourists, El Al upped its market
share to 80% in the fourth quarter of 2023, compared to 22%, previous to Black
Sabbath, October 7th.
In the end, record revenue and profits come down to
supply and demand; i.e., ticket prices soared because El Al safely flew when
other airlines canceled Tel Aviv service, citing safety concerns and sky-high
insurance premiums. Perhaps competitors who cancel their flights and ghost
Israel will be enticed to return to Israeli skies. That might lower ticket
prices, increase tourism, and speed up deliveries of essential cargo.
My students each asked travelers between 21 and 55
years of age 12 questions about flying to Israel and El Al, specifically.
Students describe the undertaking this way: “We raised questions about El Al
that collected constructive criticism, identified competitors, quantified
customer loyalty, and more. By receiving this feedback, opportunities to
improve business success and business strategies can be identified.”
They found El Al is the most popular airline among
Israeli respondents when buying tickets, with an average favorability rating of
7.5 out of 10. This coincides with other studies, for instance, as reported by
Flight-report, that claim El Al gets an average 8 out of 10 rating by frequent
fliers in peacetime. Students ranked respondents’ suggestions that the airline
improves seating comfort, in-flight entertainment, and customer service.
Americans believe competitors have “better frequent flier programs, more
comfortable seating, and superior customer service…. The respondents’
dream flight experiences include easy booking, first-rate customer support,
cozy seats, and reasonable costs.”
El Al’s support services rate poorly (5.5/10) by
American fliers. The sky-high ticket prices that jumped since last October,
dramatically contribute to the poor perception of El Al more frequently than it
does of other carriers. Perhaps travelers see this as gouging in tough times;
rightly or wrongly, we must see the long-term impact on El Al’s reputation.
“Younger respondents,” writes one student,
particularly those in their early twenties, often prioritize affordability and
comfort, while older customers in their forties and sixties focus on service
quality and loyalty perks.” The breakdown applies to female respondents and
male respondents, respectively. Long wait times for check-in service and
misinformation from staff are particularly annoying to customers. “Despite
these mixed reviews, many customers are willing to buy from El Al again,
primarily due to the airline’s reliability and loyalty, especially in
challenging times.”
Random comments from respondents point to other
areas for improvement. Bathrooms on El Al can be filthy, needing regular
cleaning; staff ignored complaints about a dog roaming the aisles on one
flight; “teaching crew politeness and cross-cultural training would be an
improvement… because El Al services globally to a large array of varying
cultures.”
Notable comments include fliers’ appreciation for
upholding Jewish values, particularly not flying on Jewish holidays and
providing kosher meals. Elisheva got special attention from the flight crew
when she was pregnant. Others take note that “El Al brought free bags to Israel
for soldiers in the current Gaza war, and “they value the sense of security
they experience on El Al’s flights because, for example, each flight has sky
marshals with concealed arms.”
Finally, the students suggest El Al’s marketing
ought to focus on people loyal to Israel and stop wasting marketing money on
the general population. “Even in wartime, supporters of Israel have proven to
be loyal and active consumers.” El Al is like an 18th-century poet’s
lonely bird from “haunted places of sadness.” Israel is under siege. Our
children are dying. Hostages are captive. But the national airline is “soaring
in a flood of gladness” bringing hope with every Magen David landing and take-off
on the tail of those lonely birds.
