Even Shimon Peres Can’t Afford To Fly El Al
Image by Getty Images
When it comes to international air travel, Israeli President Shimon Peres, is just like the rest of us. He’s getting slammed by airline baggage fees and is shopping around for the best deals. So, that’s why he’s flying Air Canada instead of El Al.
The 88-year-old balked at the $4,700 fee Israel’s national carrier was demanding for transporting his mandatory oxygen tank. Travel regulations for Israeli public officials demand that Peres and his attendant paramedic bring the tank on board with them. El Al had no problem with the president bringing the tank into the cabin, but it said doing so was going to cost him close to $5,000.
Air Canada, on the other hand, was not only willing to offer Peres a cheaper ticket than El Al, but said it would not charge him at all for in-cabin storage of the oxygen tank. So, it would come to no surprise to anyone that Peres’s representatives booked his overseas travel with Air Canada.
El Al CEO Eliezer Shkedi apparently tried to do some damage control by contritely calling the president’s residence and offering to make nice to him and his oxygen tank, including letting the tank ride for free. But his apology was too little, too late. Peres is sticking with Air Canada — the tickets were already bought and paid for.
The Shmooze guesses that El Al’s motto is coming back to bite the airline in its behind. It’s slogan: “It’s not just an airline, it’s Israel” really rings true for those who know how bad the country’s reputation has always been when it comes to customer service.
It’s our birthday and we’re still celebrating!
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news.
This week we celebrate 129 years of the Forward. We’re proud of our origins as a Yiddish print publication serving Jewish immigrants. And we’re just as proud of what we’ve become today: A trusted source of Jewish news and opinion, available digitally to anyone in the world without paywalls or subscriptions.
We’ve helped five generations of American Jews make sense of the news and the world around them — and we aren’t slowing down any time soon.
As a nonprofit newsroom, reader donations make it possible for us to do this work. Support independent, agenda-free Jewish journalism and our board will match your gift in honor of our birthday!
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
