The first regularly scheduled transatlantic flights begin between Idlewild Airport (now John F Kennedy International Airport) in New York City and Heathrow Airport in London, operated by El Al Israel Airlines.
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. (TASE: ELAL, Hebrew: ), trading as El Al (Hebrew: , "Upwards", "To the Skies" or "Skywards", stylized as ELAL; Arabic: -), is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv in September 1948, the airline has grown to serve over 50 destinations, operating scheduled domestic and international services and cargo flights within Israel, and to Europe, the Middle East, the Americas, Africa, and the Far East, from its main base in Ben Gurion Airport.
El Al is the only commercial airline to equip its planes with missile defense systems to protect its planes against surface-to-air missiles, and is considered one of the world's most secure airlines, thanks to its stringent security procedures, both on the ground and on board its aircraft. Although it has been the target of many attempted hijackings and terror attacks, only one El Al flight has ever been hijacked; that incident did not result in any fatalities.As Israel's national airline, El Al has played an important role in humanitarian rescue efforts, airlifting Jews from other countries to Israel, setting the world record for the most passengers on a commercial aircraft (single plane record of 1,088 passengers on a 747) by Operation Solomon when 14,500 Jewish refugees were transported from Ethiopia in 1991.El Al offers only kosher in-flight meals, and does not fly passengers on the Jewish Shabbat or religious holidays.In 2012, El Al operated an all-Boeing fleet of 42 aircraft, flying over 4 million passengers, and employed a staff of 6,056 globally. The company's revenues for 2016 were $2,040 million, with losses of $81 million, compared to a profit of $57 million in 2010. In 2018, the company's revenue was $7.7 billion with a net loss of $187.55 million. In July 2020, having lost hundreds of millions of dollars due to grounded flights and layoffs as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel and abroad, the company reached a bailout deal with the government, and a private buyer purchased a controlling stake (42.85%) in September of that year, with the government purchasing any unwanted shares (15%).
A transatlantic flight is the flight of an aircraft across the Atlantic Ocean from Europe, Africa, South Asia, or the Middle East to North America, Central America, or South America, or vice versa. Such flights have been made by fixed-wing aircraft, airships, balloons and other aircraft.
Early aircraft engines did not have the reliability needed for the crossing, nor the power to lift the required fuel. There are difficulties navigating over featureless expanses of water for thousands of miles, and the weather, especially in the North Atlantic, is unpredictable. Since the middle of the 20th century, however, transatlantic flight has become routine, for commercial, military, diplomatic, and other purposes. Experimental flights (in balloons, small aircraft, etc.) present challenges for transatlantic fliers.