El Al Advantage: One Click Explains It!

Thanks to a new corporate partnership agreement between El Al Israel Airlines and the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, Philadelphians committed to Jewish continuity have an added incentive to fly on Israel's national airline. For every El Al ticket to Israel purchased, $10 will be donated by the airline to support scholarship assistance to Jewish day schools, day/overnight Jewish camps and other Israel experiences.

El Al will reimburse the Federation quarterly, providing a new source of revenue during economically challenging times. To participate, travelers should go to: www.elal.com/PHL and provide their flight information.

Federation CEO Ira M. Schwartz emphasized that "numerous studies have shown that these experiences are the building blocks of a strong Jewish identity. This is why we enthusiastically welcome El Al's support of these initiatives, which are among Federation's highest funding priorities."

Schwartz expressed enthusiasm for "the expansion and deepening of the relationship between two organizations that share a passion for Israel, and a unique appreciation of its significant role in our Jewish past, present and future."

Talks between Schwartz and Offer Gat, El Al's chief executive for North America, began last summer after the airline's highly visible participation as a partner in Federation's Israel Independence Day celebration at Penn's Landing. The airline gave away numerous promotional items and donated two free round-trip tickets to Israel during the event.

According to Gat, the new agreement is a case of yasher koach -- "going from strength to strength." He explained that "El Al and the Philadelphia Jewish Federation have a longstanding partnership for decades that is important and always appreciated. We admire the devotion to the State of Israel and the meaningful results that the Philadelphia Federation has achieved."

Gat stated his pleasure that, under the terms of this joint venture -- which also will include the donation of tickets, a cash contribution and a unique educational program that dispatches pilots to area schools -- El Al will be viewed as Federation's exclusive airline partner.

"As Israel's national airline, we are proud to ... further the initiatives of the Federation of Greater Philadelphia. We also want to work together to encourage even more people to fly El Al ... ," he said, adding that the airline's sponsorship of the many community events sponsored by Federation "is an opportunity to say 'thank you,' and show how we value the loyalty of tens of thousands of passengers from the Greater Philadelphia area who begin their Israel experience on El Al and help to ensure that as many people as possible are aware of the extra care provided to meet passenger needs."

El Al and Israel were both established in 1948. The airline has grown exponentially since its first flight which brought Israel's first president, Chaim Weizman, from Geneva, Switzerland, to the newly created Jewish homeland. Today, it is a publicly traded company that operates international and cargo flights from its hub in Tel Aviv's Ben-Gurion Airport to 48 nations on four continents.

Gat expressed confidence that El Al passengers will find state-of-the art amenities in every level of service, including a new, sophisticated digital entertainment system on a personal TV with a variety of programming in English; electrical outlets for laptops; and enhanced in-flight dining with health-smart meal options.

He added that premium-class passengers can relax in first- and business-class lounges equipped with plasma television screens and gourmet snacks, and can check e-mail in a high-tech business center that offers hi-speed Internet. In-flight, advanced new sleeper seats have been installed in first- and business-class on all aircraft departing the United States.

"Every passenger experiences warm Israeli hospitality, English-speaking Israeli flight attendants who make you feel at home and the best-trained Israeli pilots," affirmed Gat.

El Al is widely acknowledged as the world's most secure airline. In 2009, the International Air Transport Association named it the winner of the Operational Safety Audit program for the second year in a row, and it was ranked by the organization as one of the world's three most efficient air carriers.

Yet the airline remains true to its founding charter. Then and now, it assists those in need, reunites thousands of families and provides Jews who live in hostile nations with a chance for a new life in Israel.

El Al has been an integral part of world Jewish history, transporting Jews at risk from every corner of the world. From 1950-56, the airline resettled 160,000 immigrants to Israel from Yemen, Iran and India as part of Operation Magic Carpet, and Operation Ezra and Nehemiah. On Jan. 1, 1990, Operation Exodus began, with El Al playing a major role, airlifting hundreds of thousands of Soviet Jews to Israel.

In May of 1991, the airline helped to resettle more than 14,000 Ethiopian Jews as part of Operation Solomon -- one of the most dramatic rescue missions in its history. One specially configured El Al 747 Boeing aircraft carried 1,087 Ethiopians (more than twice the normal number of passengers) -- setting an international aviation record.

Said Schwartz: "El Al's very essence is captured in its slogan -- 'It's not just an airline, it's Israel.' "

For information about corporate sponsorship, call Julie Levine at 215-832-0888 or e-mail: jlevine@jfgp.org.