In 2011 Delta was accused of antisemitism for its partnership with Saudia, the Saudi Arabian airline, because of Saudi Arabia’s policy of not admitting passengers with an Israeli passport stamp into the country. I defended Delta at the time, and I’m more comfortable engaging Saudi Arabia now than I was then as that country works through a complex transition to modernity.
However Delta argued at the time that it wasn’t really partnering with Saudia – and that it would not do so.
Delta does not operate service to Saudi Arabia and does not codeshare with any airline that serves that country.
Delta does not intend to codeshare or share reciprocal benefits, such as frequent flier benefits, with Saudi Arabian Airlines, which we have confirmed with SkyTeam, an Amsterdam-based 14-member global airline alliance.
Delta’s only agreement with Saudi Arabian Airlines is a standard industry interline agreement, which allows passengers to book tickets on multiple carriers, similar to the standard interline agreements American Airlines, US Airways and Alaska Airlines have with Saudi Arabian Airlines. All of the three global airline alliances — Star, which includes United Airlines; oneworld, which includes American Airlines, and SkyTeam, which includes Delta — have members that fly to Saudi Arabia and are subject to that country’s rules governing entry.
Saudia joined SkyTeam and that involved reciprocal frequent flyer benefits, as Delta (and everyone else knew when this statement was made that it would. Now Delta and Saudia have signed a codesharing agreement.
The agreement builds on the airlines’ existing interline relationship and will expand the choice of destinations for Delta customers between North America and the Arabian Peninsula. The carriers have applied for necessary codesharing authority and will start selling codeshare itineraries once all government approvals have been received.
The codeshare agreement will enable greater connectivity between the United States and the Middle East. Delta customers will gain access to nine destinations in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East beyond Saudia’s hubs in Jeddah and Riyadh. Saudia guests will gain access to 12 destinations in the U.S. beyond Delta’s hubs at JFK and LAX airports.
Delta is also working on a joint venture with Riyadh Air and intends to fly to Saudi Arabia. It will be interesting to see what happens when a union-organizing flight attendant wears an AFA Pride pin landing in Riyadh.
I’m absolutely fascinated by the transition in that country, which retains many governance elements that those in the West will be uncomfortable with while at the same time liberalizing much of it society and working to grow and diversify its economy.
For the country, Riyadh Air is part of a gamble that openness and modernity can bring benefits to Saudi Arabia, pairing secular society and a growing class of entrepreneurs and artists with single-family rule rather than political pluralism. It’s in a complex place, with one foot in an autocratic past and another in a dynamic future – unclear what equilibrium ultimately looks like.
Delta cannot be more Catholic than the Pope. The USA deals with Saudi Arabia and Israel seems ready to. Move with the times. 🙂
Ideally, this provides cover for Saudis to drop the Israel stamp on the passport issue.
Remember when Delta was acting like flying Emirates was basically like joining Al-Qaeda?
Israel doesn’t stamp passports. It provides a small ticket that you hold onto for the duration of your stay and return when you leave.
In what world does Delta saying it “does not intend to” equivalent to promising they will never do? Not just click bait, but purposely dishonest.
@Raphael … Israel stamped my passport , at my proud insistence .
In Medina as a solo tourist a few months ago I was visiting inside an important mosque (not the Proohet’s Mosque which is still technically off limits to non-Muslims. I took a few pictures and up came a security guy. Did I miss a no photos sign?
He asks me, “Are you a Christian?” I say yes.
“Thank you for coming. You are very welcome here. Would you like a cup of Arabian coffee?” And he poured one for me.
The country has a long way to go, but it has also come a long way and tourism is developing. We need to encourage change, not with a blind eye to its human rights deficiencies, but with a realistic hope that the future can be mich different.
I thought it was going to be giving Tim Dunn his job back.
@ Gary — Lower award prices!?…yeah, maybe not.
When I saw the headline I thought “Offer consistent good value with Skymiles?”.
i have flown saudia many times on business. it is a good carrier as long as you can go without alcohol until the next stop.
@Mantis – Delta absolutely made the case that they wouldn’t partner with Saudia, and explicitly included codeshares in that. Merely pointing to a weasel word in the statement doesn’t help Delta’s case here, it hurts it.
@Raphael – they stamped passports up until 2013 iirc
“a complex transition to modernity.” is one way of describing having a western journalist dismembered I suppose.
A lot has changed in 10 years. The Saudis will soon follow UAE in signing a peace treaty with Israel (after IDF rolls up Hezbollah and maybe Iran). So why would anyone object to this tie-up?
Really the bigger problem is that DL elites will be disappointed with the lack of alcohol on Saudia flights.
Meh. El Al made it an hour-long ordeal, with baggage searches and pat downs, before we were even allowed to check in for a flight from Rome to Tel Aviv. Our sin? Egyptian visa in our passports.
@ATKCHI,
Delta is Baptist
United is Protestant
American is Catholic
Israel gives you a “landing card” which you surrender upon your exit from the country, rather than stamping your passport. This is done as there are many countries which will not allow you in with an Israeli stamp. I asked them to stamp my passport anyway, and they politely declined.
My favorite statements by Tim Dunn for the last few years is “Delta doesn’t need a partner in the middle like UA & AA.” Now he’s talking about JV’s and operations being larger than both without having flown a single revenue flight. It’s hilarious.
Any moron with a modicum of knowledge would know that Arabs are semites. Palestinians are semites, and people too.
If the israeli government weren’t infested with genocidal A-holes, maybe that shithole, apartheid little country would earn a little respect
“@Mantis – Delta absolutely made the case that they wouldn’t partner with Saudia, and explicitly included codeshares in that. Merely pointing to a weasel word in the statement doesn’t help Delta’s case here, it hurts it.”
Delta doesn’t really need to make a case, but it certainly doesn’t help your case that they promised they’d never do something. “Doesn’t intend to” means in marketing speak that at the moment that’s not their plan. That was 13 years ago. Plans change. Show me where they promised they would never ever codeshare with Saudia.
Weasel words are weaselly for a reason.
While I find the regime in Saudi Arabia abhorrent and just yesterday chastised Josh for his latest vlog extolling the country and its airline, the reality is that the country was about to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with Israel until last October’s massacre by Hamas. However, El Al is now permitted to overfly its airspace when operating flights to the Emirates and last week permitted the Israeli Air Force to overfly to strike the Houthi’s in Yemen….and likely will do the same when Israel strikes back at Iran. While I’d never fly either Saudi airline for “politcal” reasons, times in the geopolitics of the region.
DELTA JET DIVERTS TO RIYADH — ALL GAY PASSENGERS BEHEADED AND ALL JEWS STONED TO DEATH.
I think someone is trying to propagandize Delta. They gave money to the latest hurricane flood victims. The US government gave billions of Tax Dollars to the war in the Middle East.