The pilot of a Royal Jordanian Airlines flight, which operates flights to and from Israel, elicited the anger of many Israelis as he welcomed passengers on a flight RJ216 heading to JFK Airport in New York City.
Captain Yousef Dajahe explained the flight route first in Arabic and then English: “We will depart Queen Alia International Airport heading towards Palestine; we will then turn north of Jerusalem, the Palestinian capital. We will then pass over the western coast of Palestine and the Mediterranean Sea. You will find more information on the screens in front of you, where you can follow our route.”
The announcement received enthuastic applause from Jordanians on board the flight. A recording of the announcenent went viral on social media.
First officer Jamil Khalsa told the Jordanian News Agency that he did not know in advance of the pilot’s announcement, “It made me proud to see that there still exist people with the guts to say something like this,” said Khalsa.
“He knew there were many Americans on the flight, and he knew that we were flying over Israel and Palestine, but he did it anyway. I am very proud of him,” he added.
A representative of Royal Jordanian Airlines in Israel said: “We are a commercial company and do not engage in politics.”
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
A standard news story would mention where the flight originated.
Quite frankly he is entitled to his opinion just as much as we are entitled to ours fir the good and the not so good.
1) The FBI could charge the pilot with having lied, as stating Jerusalem to be capital of Palestine is a blatant lie.
2) More realistically:- Don’t fly Jordanian Airlines to save a few measly Dollars, or get that 2nd free baggage. Patronize El Al, or failing that, fly with a reputable American or Western European Airliner.
Extremists like that shouldn’t be piloting airliners.
They may not engage in politics but they get a lot of revenue from Jewish passengers, many of whom fly in Business Class. Economics will prevail but it will be done privately without any grand announcements. Their pilots will be told to be more discrete in future, at least until the Jews decide flying Royal Jordanian is a bit like having arab labor in your house, a really bad idea.