Delta, United and Others Revive US-Israel Flights as Airlines Ramp Up Middle-East Service

U.S. airlines have already begun resuming scheduled service to Israel after Israel's airspace reopened following the twelve-day conflict with Iran in July 2026. DAL restarted daily JFK-Tel Aviv flights on September 6, 2026, and UAL followed two days later with twice-daily Newark-Tel Aviv service on September 8, 2026 .

Israel's North American tourism commissioner, Yoram Elgrabli, said the timing reflects renewed confidence that "Israel is open for tourists, that Israel is safe for tourists" . AAL has not yet returned to the route: American's Tel Aviv service has been suspended since October 7, 2023, and the carrier is not expected back until spring 2027. El Al is separately adding San Francisco-Tel Aviv service starting October 2026 .

United confirmed it will add its own San Francisco-Tel Aviv route on March 28, 2027, flying four times weekly on a Boeing 787 . That addition is separate from a broader announcement United made of ten new international routes, most launching next spring; eight of those routes are unique to United among U.S. carriers and five will fly the new Airbus A321XLR, a single-aisle jet with extended range. United CEO Scott Kirby framed the expansion as part of an effort to position United as the U.S. flag carrier . The San Francisco-Tel Aviv route is not one of the ten routes in that announcement and uses a wide-body 787 rather than the A321XLR.

The pattern across carriers suggests a broader recovery of U.S.-Israel air links from the nearly three-year gap that followed the October 2023 suspension and the more recent Iran conflict, rather than a rebound tied to pandemic-era travel trends. Whether the newly restored routes hold up may depend on how durable the current calm in the region proves to be, and industry watchers could look to load factors on the Delta and United corridors as an early signal.

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