Delta Won’t Ask About Religion, Despite Saudi Alliance

By JTA August 24, 2011

Delta Airlines announced that it will not ask its customers to disclose their religious affiliation, despite partnering with Saudi Arabian Airlines.

The announcement followed a controversy two months ago when a Delta spokesperson suggested that, because Saudi Arabian Airlines was joining the SkyTeam Alliance, Delta might have to refuse boarding to passengers with Israel stamps on their passports. The Saudi government requires that travelers disclose their religion, and American Jews and others with Israeli stamps in their passports have been refused visas to the country.

At the time, the Delta spokesperson said that the airline “must comply with all applicable laws in every country it serves” because it would face fines if a passenger arrives at a destination without proper documents.

In a letter sent last week to the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Delta Senior Vice President Andrea Fischer Newman wrote: “Delta employees do not currently and will not in the future, request that customers declare their religious affiliation. We would also not seek such information on behalf of any SkyTeam partner or any airline.”

Delta officials met with the Wiesenthal Center’s Associate Dean Rabbi Abraham Cooper at the center’s headquarters in Los Angeles to clarify the airline’s policy.

“Delta has now done the right thing, sending a signal to the Saudis that it will not cooperate with Riyadh’s policy of religious apartheid,” Cooper said in a statement. “We hope that all other U.S.-based airlines around the world will declare and follow a similar policy. We also urge the Obama administration to lead the way in demanding that the Saudis drop their overt policy of religious discrimination.”

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO