American Airlines is hiring Hebrew-speaking flight attendants, which likely signals the potential of resuming flights to Israel. The airline currently has only one service to the Middle East and has not operated flights to Israel for over two years.
However, American has not confirmed any plans to fly to Israel, so it remains unclear if and when the flights will resume. Meanwhile, the airline is also looking for flight attendants who can speak English, Czech, Dutch, Greek, Hungarian, and Italian.
Flying To Israel After Two Years
American Airlines, like many carriers worldwide, suspended flights to Israel after the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on the Middle Eastern country. While many international carriers eventually resumed flights, American never returned to Israel and is the last of the US Big 3 to do so. However, flights to Israel by US carriers have been largely on and off due to several waves of tensions across the region over the last two years.
As spotted by JonNYC, American has now posted several job openings for cabin crew. Among them is an opening for a “Flight Attendant Trainee Hebrew and English Bilingual.” They will operate from various locations, including Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York (LGA), and Washington (DCA). American Airlines previously served Tel Aviv from New York (JFK) and Miami (MIA).
As noted by One Mile At a Time, it is not strange for airlines to hire flight attendants who speak the languages of the countries they fly to, given that there is a need to have a minimum number of “language speakers” on each flight. Given the recent ceasefire, operators in the region might start to see more stability and an improved security situation.
American’s Flights To The Middle East
American Airlines relaunched flights to Israel in 2021. It started flying from New York JFK to Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport (TLV) in May and then from Miami International to Tel Aviv in June. It planned to introduce Dallas-Tel Aviv flights in June 2022, but the route never launched. JFK-TLV was served with the Boeing 777-200, while MIA-TLV was served with the 777-200 and 787-8.
However, the service from Miami was dropped in March 2023, while flights from New York were suspended in October 2023 following the outbreak of the war in Gaza. Flights were initially suspended until December 2023, but the hiatus was extended for over two years. In January 2025, Senator Ted Cruz called for US carriers to resume flights to Israel, saying he felt the suspensions were a “politically motivated boycott instead of a genuine safety concern.”
Delta Air Lines and United Airlines have since returned to Israel, although flights were temporarily suspended after a Houthi attack on Ben Gurion Airport and during the conflict between Israel and Iran. American Airlines currently only flies to Qatar in the Middle East. It operates daily flights from Philadelphia (PHL) to Doha (Doha) with Boeing 787-9.
Flights Between The US And Israel
While American Airlines is not flying from the US to Israel, there are several schedules between the two countries. According to data from Cirium, an aviation analytics company, there are currently 64 weekly scheduled flights on seven different routes from the US to Israel, operated by four airlines.
El Al is the top carrier between the two countries, with 39 weekly flights each way. It serves Tel Aviv from New York JFK, Newark Liberty, Boston, Los Angeles, Miami, and Fort Lauderdale. Its top route is JFK-TLV with up to two daily flights. United Airlines is second with two daily flights from Newark, followed by Delta with a daily flight from New York JFK. Israel’s Arkia is the latest to enter the market. It operates four weekly flights with an Airbus A330-200 leased from GullivAir.
JFK-TLV is the most served with 25 weekly flights, followed by EWR-TLV with 23 weekly flights. However, there are several other travel options for passengers flying to Israel, as there are over 330 flights from the US to the Middle East. Flights are operated by various carriers, including Emirates, Qatar Airways, and Saudia, to their hubs in Dubai, Doha, and Jeddah.
