Delta Airlines: Flying to Saudi Arabia? No Infidels, Please

“Welcome to Delta. How many bags are you bringing with you? (Typing.) Is your flight to Saudi Arabia round-trip? (Typing.) Do you have a discernibly Jewish-sounding surname?”

That scenario is not too far from the truth, now that Delta Airlines’ new deal with the House of Saud has come to light. The world’s most fundamentalist Islamist state has secured a “code-sharing” deal next year with one of the largest American airlines to make sure no Jews — or anyone carrying a Bible, Jewish or Christian — can fly to Riyadh or Jeddah.

Aside from the question of why Jews and Christians would want to travel to Saudi Arabia, which leads the world in beheadings as corporal punishment, the USA Today reports that the airliner does not see it as its responsibility to lecture Saudis.

Cathy Lynn Grossman — unfortunately, our computer says you cannot pre-board — wrote, “If it wants to deny Israelis, people with Jewish surnames, and religious articles that are not Islamic (toss your Bible, Mr. Jones) entry to their borders, it’s not Delta’s fault.”

If this sounds unreasonable and draconian, consider the fact that Saudi women are currently battling for the right to drive. Would an American car service company comply with enforcing that taboo?

Delta has not yet released a statement commenting on the new policy.

CORRECTIONS & AMPLIFICATIONS: Kate Shellnutt of the Houston Chronicle reports that this widely-heard story has been pulled from the USA Today website after several other sources failed to corroborate the alleged policy. It appears that many reporters, including this one, were taken in by an apparent hoax. Apologies for the error.

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