This is awesome Gloopy. I'm going to copy and paste this on her FB if you don't mind.

Not that it matters, but she is Jewish and sensitive to the idea of Israel being wiped off the map as many in the Middle East have threatened to do.

 

It seems your post was made for effect and I get it. However, there must be priorities.

The Saudis don't even let their women drive. ( Not just Saudi women, ANY women)

They don't LET their women drive. If the women drive, they are jailed and beaten.

Your list may/may not be a to-do-list, but, for now, they don't let their human females drive a car.

I guess we can work on your list later.

 

Is there a point to this post? I don't get it. So don't fly. Why did this go by with no fanfare with all of the other airlines that have the same agreements?

Have you ever flown internationally to a country that requires a visa to enter? If so then I'm sure you noticed that no visa = no fly. The country issues the visa via their consulate or embassy. It has absolutely nothing to do with the airline itself.

 

My point is that this irks me. It strikes me that that in the hunt for bigger and better alliances, any airline will be let in. It's not the other international airlines flying into any of the offending countries; it's letting a nationalized carrier (an arm of the government and it's polices) into a global alliance. It's confirmation that what they do is OK with us. Like I said earlier in this thread- think South African Airways in the years of Apartheid. Lots of other airlines flew into South Africa and they abided by whatever rules were in place at the time, but they never legitimized the government’s policies by offering an invitation to SAA to join them in anything.

I am trying my best not to let this become overly religious or political, that’s why I highlighted the fact that all women (regardless of age, race, religion, or political affiliation) are denied the freedom to drive. Isn’t there something fundamentally (no pun intended) wrong with denying all the women in any country the freedom to drive? Unfortunately, in this case, that would only be scratching the surface.

This would not bother me if mainline Delta flew in there. Presently, I know that Air France/KLM has a notable presence in Saudi Arabia and I’m fine with that.

Also, this is not a DL/SkyTeam bashing. I brought this up because it surprised me and I wanted to see what other opinions were out there.


To answer your question about international visa requirements,not that it matters at all, but I have more experience flying for airlines out of the US than I do flying in the US.

 

That's hardly the point.

 

I understand your point, and economic boycotts are perfectly legitimate, but why single out air travel?
If you want to punish Saudi Arabia and anyone who does business with them -- then you need to stop buying gasoline. You need to picket the Pentagon and just about every company that does defense related business. You need to protest all the farmers in Iowa who sell wheat.
If you're talking about U.S. trade with Saudi Arabia -- those three industries -- petroleum, defense and agriculture, are thousands of times larger than airline tickets.

 

No, it does matter. The visa requirement is what this is all about. All this uproar has been over the visa requirement. It's not about the Saudi's restrictions concerning their women driving.

This story all started with the allegation that Delta would not board Jewish passengers to SA, and then somehow turned to Delta not allowing any Jewish passengers to board.

And if you have flown internationally, and have been required to garner a Visa from a foreign country, you should know how it works. If you have flown to a country that requires it, I'm sure you have seen the visa process at the gate. Same for all airlines, same for all countries that require visas.

If you're trying to start a movement for change in SA, quit buying gas. Your arguments here are weak, and don't fit the conversation.

 

So you also agree with boycotting every airline with a code share with any other airline in their system that doesn't let their human women drive? I assume you also boycott their oil as well. You know, for the sake of those human females and whatnot.

My "list" was also very non comprehensive as well. There are many nations with significant human, environmental, animal and other abuses, and many in each case that are extreme to the core. Your "point" is that well Saudi is one of or among the worst, so therefore we should boycott them, yet no one is calling for the boycott of every other airline that uses them somewhere in their code share network or frequent miles system. Plus look around your house. You see all that stuff? If you've got it, a truck brought it. It takes oil to make and ship everything. Every. Thing. So anytime you buy anything you financially subsidize them, not to mention every time you pay taxes.

So if this reactionary, populist and way off the mark of accuracy boycott mentality resonates with you, then apply it consistently...or at least attempt to justify such a narrow knee jerk version not just in general, but specifically as it applies to airlines. And I'd love to see you attempt to defend the insane articles claiming system wide religious discrimination when you know those lazy hack job "journalists" knew better but ran with it anyway just to sell copy.

 

enough with the SAA drama already!

Israel and Saudi Arabia aren't on the best of terms, as such the Saudis will not issue a visa to anyone with an Israeli passport (OR) a stamp from Israel... if that person just so happens to be Jewish, then that's a problem.... Christian, same thing..... IF on the other hand, the person is Jewish or Christian and wants to travel to Saudi (as one of our Captains does on a regular basis).. he will be permitted... so long as they're not Israeli or have a stamp from Israel... simple, right?

This isn't about anti-semitism, or any of that... it's the same as if a Syrian wanted to travel on El Al to Israel... this is about politics.

 

While what you say is somewhat true, in the middle east, the two are inseparable.


If the world needs an enema, I know where to put the tube....