Delta & Saudi Alliance Raises Concerns

June 27, 2011

2 min read

It's an issue that you will be hearing a lot more about.

Delta Air Lines is partnering with Saudi Arabian Airlines, the government-owned airline that embraces discriminatory policies targeting religion, ethnicity, and gender.

In announcing the partnership in January, Delta issued this statement as part of its press release: "We are honored that Saudi Arabian has chosen to link its future growth and success with Delta and our SkyTeam partners, while bringing our alliance greater access to destinations across the Middle East."

Delta says it does not discriminate, and isn't responsible for what other nations do. That's ridiculous. If they choose to partner with the Saudis, they simply can't back away and shut their eyes to this discriminatory behavior.

And, now the Saudi embassy in Washington says it doesn't discriminate either. "The fact of the matter is American citizens are not being discriminated against based on their religion," said embassy spokesman Nail Al-Jubeir.

If that's really the case, then why does their application for a visa, posted here, include a mandatory request to list your religion?

The fact is that with this new alliance, there's real concern that American Jews will be prohibited from flying into the country. Even non-Jews with an Israeli stamp in their passport could be targeted. And, of course, U.S. citizens who are Christian are in the danger zone as well, often facing blatant discrimination in Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia where Sharia Law is embraced.