Delta, Delta, Delta cannot help me, help me, help me

Hurray, a new topic to discuss (I'm tired of talking penis - not necessarily done, just tired of it)!

Delta's family is growing with a new partnership with Saudi Arabian Airlines, announced a while ago. A lot has recently been bandied about that this new partnership with force Delta to ban Jews, Israeli passport holders and those with Israeli entrance stamps in non-Israeli passports from flights going to Saudi Arabia. This would clearly be very concerning, but word out of Delta is that this restriction is solely a Saudi Arabia visa issue - and that Delta and Saudi Arabian Airlines aren't even all that close. (What a brief honeymoon period?)

I sorta buy that. Saudi Arabia doesn't acknowledge Israel's existence (or even right to), so how could it possibly accept someone who claims to have that nationality? Saudis don't particularly like Jews (or Christians for that matter) and most likely don't hand out too many visas to regular Jews like you and me who don't have anything else to offer them than some tourism shekels.

However, it appears that the "national policy" shield has been pierced with respect to online booking policies - even where a Saudi visa is not necessary (in a stopover visit), Israelis cannot book tickets online at SaudiAirlines.com. I took the time to verify this independently and fiddled around on the site. There is no option to claim your Israeli nationality, but even if you are an American but for whatever reason have a billing address in Israel you cannot book a ticket. Interestingly, if you are one of the what could only be 3 or 4 people who have a billing address from Antarctica, then Saudi Airlines wishes you welcome aboard!

This policy is clearly fully implemented and carried out by the Saudi Arabian Airlines company itself. If Delta & the SkyTeam are really only just entering into an interline agreement with Saudi Arabian, then I don't quite know what the hubbub in January was about, but hey, good for them. If they are going to code-share, then I would urge the SkyTeam to at least make Saudi Arabian correct it's online interface and allow anyone who is duly allowed to travel on a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight purchase a ticket.

Clearly, even if this HTML issue is smoothed over, Delta will continue to draw flak anyway for voluntarily entering into such an agreement that would call upon it to enforce the Saudis' discriminatory policies. It's a cold economic calculus that lies behind this deal: A few upset Jews (of which I am one) won't offset the gains from new access to hajj passengers from throughout the world.

Another mini-drash topic on this issue comes from the haftarah from Korach, which comes from Sam. 1, 11:14 - 12:22. In it, Shmuel chastises the Israelites for clamoring for a human king when G-d has provided for them perfectly fine up until now. The end analysis is that if the Israelites stayed true to their devotion to G-d, then Shmuel assured then there would be no real harm done even with a king over them. Of course, in the end the monarchy led the Israelites through a varied array of calamities, idol worship, and eventually exile (though, certainly with a few bright spots thrown in there). Similarly, it is important for Delta and the SkyTeam to realize that sometimes despite your best intentions, big decisions have a way of distracting people from the true goal. For the SkyTeam, thought he decision to tap into the Saudi market may yield more customers, perhaps they should return to serving their current customers as best as possible.

As for me, I'm not happy about Delta's handling of the growing debacle. I certainly do not plan on using their services in the future if I can avoid it. In the end, Delta may have made its bed, but I'm not forced to lie in it. So, fair thee well SkyTeam Alliance! Make sure your new partner shapes up its website and try to serve your customers (whichever ones you have left) as best as possible without these grand distractions.