Important Update: "...Never Mind...." It's been brought to my attention that the "No Jews" article linked to below has serious factual flaws; I'm keeping my original diary content but am changing the title and adding clarification below
So, Delta Airlines has been in a wee bit of hot water of late, starting with their charging $2,800 to U.S. Army reservists returning home from Afghanistan.The good news is that this is leading to some policy changes across the whole airline industry.
Then, just a few days ago, another video went viral depicting a Delta customers' luggage completely soaked with urine:
Well, today there's a new story making the rounds...and, giving credit where it's due, apparently this one originally came to light via a right-wing blog of some sort:
Delta Defends Saudi 'No Jews' Flights
A partnership between Delta Air Lines and Saudi Arabian Airlines will lead to what critics are calling “Jew-free flights,” with Delta barring passengers who openly identify themselves as Jews or have passports stamped with an Israeli entrance or exit visa.
The two carriers became partners in January, when the government-owned Saudi airline joined SkyTeam, the global alliance that includes Delta and more than a dozen other companies. But the story broke this week on a right-wing blog and has spread to other, more mainstream publications, igniting a controversy and putting Delta officials on the defensive.
Delta tries to weasel out of any blame by pointing the finger at Saudi Arabia's legal system, which, of course, codifies antisemitism into law. However, as the article notes, the issue on Delta's part isn't Saudi Arabian law, but the fact that they voluntarily entered into the agreement with them in first place while knowing damned well that Jews aren't allowed on Saudi Arabian Airlines' flights.
I, for one, have been avoiding flying altogether ever since they started the Porn Scanners/Legalized Groping policy nationwide (I'd be willing to subject myself to them, but there's no way in hell I'm gonna let anyone grope my 5-year old son); let's just say that these latest bits of news aren't exactly going to win me over to flying via Delta if I ever do fly again.
Update (cont'd from above the fold...):
Thanks to both Joan McCarter and litho in the comments for bringing to my attention some updates/corrections to the "Delta/No Jews" article linked to above; from litho's comment:
The linked story looked a little off to me...because it wasn't clear exactly which Delta flights would follow the discriminatory policy, or how it would be implemented. The journalist at The Jewish Week also does not seem particularly well-versed on the airline industry, as indicated by his reference to "co-sharing" instead of "codesharing" (the airline practice of assigning two different flight numbers, each from a different carrier, to a single flight).
Lovitky, for instance, said that such partnerships involve “co-shared” flights, in which each flight would carry a Delta number and a number from the other airline, and the pooling of certain services, including reservations.
I googled around and found this correction on USA Today:
Some travel industry experts say Delta Air Lines is being treated unfairly — and is the victim of misinformation — because of its pending marketing alliance with Saudi Arabian Airlines.
...
The news service provides stories to usatoday.com, which briefly posted the story Thursday before finding factual problems and removing it. The story stated that, under the marketing alliance, Jews and Israelis would not be able to fly from the USA to Saudi Arabia.
...
"Delta has been unfairly singled out," says travel expert Henry Harteveldt, a Jewish American and a vice president of Forrester Research. "We may find a lot of Saudi Arabia's policies unpleasant and not agree with them, but any airline flying into any country is obliged to act by the rules of that country."
Basically, what actually appears to have happened is that, as Joan McCarter's linked article puts it:
This is not a decision by U.S.-based Delta, but by the SkyTeam, an alliance that includes Air France-KLM and Korean Air, and the decision to add the Saudi airline was voted on by 14 airlines in four continents. Even with the addition, Delta has no current plans to fly its aircraft to Saudi Arabia, and therefore could not prevent any passengers, Jewish or otherwise, from flying there.
So, basically, "SkyTeam", an airline alliance composed of 14 of the largest Airlines in the world--of which Delta appears to be the only U.S. member--voted to let Saudi Arabian Airlines join their little club.
Which is to say, this doesn't exactly clear Delta's name on this issue, but it shouldn't be dumped on them exclusively either.
The urine, on the other hand...