HAARETZ
by Rina Rozenberg and Zohar Blumenkrantz
August 23, 2015

Nothing special in the air: World’s largest airline prefers Oneworld alliance that numbers carriers from Jordan, Qatar and Malaysia

Citing financial considerations, American Airlines said at the end of last week it would stop flying to Israel, but sources in the aviation industry told The Marker that the real reason is the United States carrier’s ties with Arab airlines through its Oneworld alliance. American, the world’s largest airline by passengers flown, fleet size and revenue, said on Thursday it would end its Philadelphia-Tel Aviv route as of January. The airlines’ Israeli office was given no advanced warnings and learned about the decision from the media. “Profitability wasn’t a problem,” said an industry source, who asked not to be identified. “The past year hasn’t been easy for the airline industry in general, but that’s far from saying that the route wasn’t profitable. No one would have operated a money-losing route for so many years.” READ MORE