Additional Security on Delta from JFK to TLV?
 

I am going to be flying on Delta from JFK to TLV (Tel Aviv) and was just wondering if there is any additional security prior to boarding the flight? If anyone has flown from JFK to TLV and can comment, I would appreciate it.

Yes, there is additional security, including carry-on xray & WTMD, at the gate.

It's really easy. Just a metal detector and x-ray. They're very polite, and it doesn't take long at all.

Have a great trip here!

Thank you! I am looking forward to it. Do you know if there are typically air marshals on this flight? I'm just a little concerned about flying on Delta since it isn't as secure as El AL.

Not as secure? :confused: by what metric?

When is the last time you've heard of any security incident on any American airline, aside from a belligerent drunk passenger?

Statistically there won't be a significant difference in terms of safety, but I just take added comfort in the additional screening when flying to Israel on El Al. I know Delta is a perfectly safe airline, but with the current state of affairs in the Middle East, I simply take comfort in knowing that the airline does everything within its power to ensure a safe flight when flying to israel.

I would not feel any safer being subjected to additional harassment by El Al. I guess that's why I have zero interest in flying them. :)

There are always air marshals on US carriers flying to Tel Aviv, including Delta. And they're usually blatantly obvious. On my last flight, one of them made no effort to hide.

It is true that El Al's security is more extensive than the US carriers, but it's hard to say if this is more of the illusion of El Al or genuinely protective. I can say that El Al denies Richard Reid the opportunity to fly, but American let him on board.

In any case, the US carriers often require their crews to be "Tel Aviv certified," so they have had special training. There are always special security measures in place, even if they seem kind of stupid.

On the way back, all flights from Ben Gurion Airport have the same security procedures, so it doesn't matter if you fly on El Al or Delta.

Although I understand your concern, I do not think there is any reason to switch airlines. Again, have a great trip here, and let us know if you have other questions.

Yeah, yeah, why not? We won't be flying to Israel anymore. I dislike it at all. It's very extremely dangerous out there. Security is very strict.

and then there's most of my Jewish friends who refuse to fly El Al to TLV out of fear that El Al has an increased target value as the national carrier of Israel.

Richard Colvin Reid -- the failed "shoe bomber" nut -- flew on El Al to TLV. EL Al let him on board an El Al flight.

To answer the OP's question, it's just a charade right by the gate. Run by the same people running the initial security.

From a security perspective, you'll be fine on DL. From a comfort perspective, you'll be better on DL than on LY.

GUWunder,
You're absolutely right, and I had the story all wrong. He did fly on El Al but was supposedly subject to very detailed inspections. I stand corrected!

According to some interrogation, the shoe bomb idea/attack came as a result of either him or another terrorist wannabe on LY flights realizing that El Al wasn't conducting detailed inspections of passenger footwear on passengers' feet.

It sounded like El Al was his dry run of sort and that the LY experiences of no such detailed inspections with LY was what gave him and at least one or two others confidence to attempt to take what was learned from flying LY and apply it to going after a US carrier.

What was said was that LY placed undercover armed personnel near to him on an/the LY flight and could watch him that way. Not like it would do much good when he would be in a bathroom. Not like it addressed his being ticketed for multiple LY flights.