FAA Administrator Michael Whitaker testifies that agency hasn’t advised airlines to stop flying to Israel

Federal Aviation Administration Administrator Michael Whitaker testified on Tuesday that the FAA has not advised U.S. airlines to stop flying to Israel amid the ongoing suspension of flights.

Whitaker made the admission after being asked by Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) about FAA involvement in the blanket flight suspensions while testifying before the House Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee on Aviation. 

“That would be an airline decision.”@FAANews Administrator Michael Whitaker answers a question from @RepAuchincloss on any agency involvement regarding U.S. airlines which have stopped flying to Israel.

Read more about the hearing: https://t.co/s3GQyFV096 pic.twitter.com/PSSI192euM

— Jewish Insider (@J_Insider) September 24, 2024

“That would be an airline decision. The role of FAA really is around NOTAMs [Notice to Air Mission] and safety of flight, that type of issue. So we do communicate with, particularly in this instance which is constantly changing in real time, and we provide guidance on NOTAMs and safety,” Whitaker said.

“I think at this point we’re mirroring the NOTAMs that are put in place by Israel for where you can fly and don’t fly. So we don’t provide anything beyond that, but we do have, for the carriers that fly to that region, usually they have a classified status so we can give them intel briefings when they make their decisions,” he added. 

American Airlines announced late last month that it would extend its suspension of flights to Israel through April 2025, prompting concern from Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) that such decisions were being made without FAA guidance that such flights are unsafe.

News of American Airlines’ suspension until 2025 followed Delta’s recent announcement that it will not fly to Israel until Sept. 30 of this year, months after revealing since-scuttled plans to resume flights from New York’s JFK Airport to Tel Aviv in June. 

With United Airlines having suspended flights to Israel indefinitely after briefly resuming limited service in March, American flyers have been left with El Al as their only option to travel directly from the U.S. to the Jewish state.