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Friday November 6, 1998

El Al to increase L.A. non-stop flights

JOSHUA SCHUSTER
Bulletin Staff

El Al will offer a second weekly non-stop flight from Los Angeles to Tel Aviv during the coming summers, but there are no plans to reinstate the direct route from San Francisco.

Citing problems with competition from other airlines, Bill Gale, the new West Coast regional manager, said he could not foresee direct service from San Francisco to Israel.

Passing through the Bay Area last month, Gale, who began work at El Al's Los Angeles office in June, visited travel agencies here.

Three years ago, El Al, the national airline of Israel, stopped direct flights from San Francisco. Gale is optimistic that expanded service from L.A. -- about 14 hours to Tel Aviv -- will meet the needs of Bay Area's residents .

"Hopefully with a second non-stop flight next summer, it will be an easy connection for the Bay Area" to reach Israel, Gale said.

El Al is the only airline with non-stop service from the West Coast, which is offered during summer months from L.A. Adding a second flight, Gale said, is part of a plan to increase profitability. The already existing flight "has been an overwhelming success in terms of passengers," he said.

Gale is the first non-Israeli regional manager. He said his new position was part of a conscious shift "to employ local managers to address local issues."

El Al has been sprucing up service recently by putting more emphasis on customers, Gale said.

The airline, which is owned by the Israeli government, has also set its sights on competing commercially on a global level.

As a nationally owned company, El Al is prohibited from flying on Shabbat, which limits its revenue.

But in recent years, the company has been making an effort to become more profitable by privatizing. This year, the airline began the process of putting up 49 percent of its stock for sale. Since the government will still retain a majority ownership, it can impose restrictions on flights.

However, if at some point in the future, the Israeli government were to relinquish its majority ownership, Gale hinted the airline would consider flying on Shabbat.

"With the various limitations [imposed by Israel], it is difficult for any airline to achieve profitability," he said.

Gale said no matter what happens to ownership of the airline, it will still pride itself on two aspects: world-renowned security and safe planes that run on time.

But it may be well known for another reason in the coming years.

Already, the airline's largest market is not Jews, but Christians who make pilgrimages to Jerusalem.

There are more coming, too. The pope recently called upon all Catholics to make a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to mark the millennium.

"Israel has made a huge investment to be able to handle 6 million tourists" coming in the next few years, Gale said.

Eager to accommodate the new business, "El Al has stated it is the official airline to the Holy Land," Gale said.

Gale plans to stick with El Al's traditional mission: promoting tourism to Israel.

"Israel is safe, friendly and has something to offer everyone," he said.

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