All EL AL employees who interact with the airlines’ passengers have been vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. These include check-in agents, security personnel, flight attendants and pilots. Compared to its direct competitors, the Israeli National airline appears to be the safest carrier, though Israir and Arkia Israeli Airlines, have also adopted the same strategy, focusing on vaccinating their staff.
El Al’s current strategy to face up to COVID-19 threat
EL AL is confident that more people will return to flying as the country’s number of Covid-19 cases continues to shrink. The airline also beleives that having a vaccinated workforce will reduce fears of airline crew spreading the virus. According to the Israeli Health Minister, Yaakov Litzman, the number of people infected is progressively diminishing. It is thought that Israel’s infection rate, also known as “R” index, is currently close to 0.88, the lowest the country has reported in over three months.
To continue its operations, the Israeli carrier needs to raise capital and secure new loans from the Israeli government. El Al aims to strengthen its equity position, which basically means having more liquid assets to rely on. Increased capital is the condition set by the Finance Ministry to allow the airline to receive loans. Today, the airline has no certainty that it will find the resources needed to meet the government’s requests, and it is negotiating with undisclosed sources to secure more cash.
Good news for EL AL: Israel is leading the way in terms of COVID-19 vaccinations
The country started its vaccinations program in December 2020, and it now counts the largest number of vaccinated people. One-fifth of the Israeli population has now received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine, this is partly behind the fall in the country’s R-rate. In fact, the country signed a deal with vaccine producers to secure enough vaccines for its whole population. Moreover, Israel relies on an almost wholly digitalized health system, which has allowed it to efficiently roll out the vaccine across the entire country
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EL AL is aiming to vaccinate it’s entire workforce to boost passengers’ confidence when flying El Al. Should other airlines follow suit?
