Delta may not resume flights to Tel Aviv

Delta Air Lines, which diverted a jumbo jet away from Tel Aviv before Tuesday’s ban by the FAA, will not necessarily resume flights to Israel even if US authorities declare the area safe, the airline’s CEO says before the FAA lifted the ban.

CEO Richard Anderson says Delta would of course obey FAA orders but would continue to make its own decisions about safety.

“We appreciate the advice and consent and the intelligence we get, but we have a duty and an obligation above and beyond that to independently make the right decisions for our employees and passengers,” Anderson says on a conference call with reporters. “Even if they lift” the prohibition on flying in and out of Ben-Gurion Airport, “we still may not go in depending on what the facts and circumstances are.”

— AP