Continental Airlines has very good relations with Israel, flying direct from Newark to Tel Aviv. So I was pretty surprised to find out that Continental is agreeing to the demands of certain Arab countries that it prohibit flight attendants from working military charters if they have Israeli stamps on their passports, as detailed in the following memo, passed along by a friend:
Date: March 26, 2004
Subject: Select Military Charters Requiring U.S. Passport Holders Only
From: Inflight Policies and Procedures
To: All Flight Attendants
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All flight attendants operating military charters into select Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries must carry a valid U.S. passport. Additionally, U.S. passport holders with Israeli stamps in their passports are not permitted to operate these military charters. Non-compliance will result in crewmember removal.
The U.S. Military allows for any crewmember of Continental Airlines to operate a military charter, however each individual country has specific entry requirements to which we must adhere. Effective immediately, any crewmember operating a military charter to the below mentioned countries is required to be a U.S. passport holder with no Israeli stamp(s) in his/her passport. It is each crewmember’s responsibility to know to which country a charter operates when picking up a charter pairing. Passports will be verified at check-in. Any flight attendant who does not meet the aforementioned requirements will be removed from the pairing.
Sample of an Israeli Passport Stamp 
Current countries/regions affected include, but are not limited to:
Turkey
Kuwait
Saudi Arabia
Bahrain
Kyrgyzstan
Prior to operating any military charter, verify the following:
Your passport is valid and in your possession
Your APIS information is correct and current in CCS
You are a U.S. passport holder with no Israeli stamps in your passport, if your trip includes flights to any of the above countries
Compliance with the above guidelines is imperative in order to avoid delays, flight attendant removal, or possible flight attendant detainment in a foreign country.
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Does anyone with expertise in the area know if Continental is violating the law banning American companies from cooperating with the Arab boycott of Israel? And since these are military charter flights, is the U.S. government going to tolerate this policy?
UPDATE: Why is Turkey on this list? I don’t know. Turkey certainly has warm military, commercial, and tourism-related ties to Israel. My guess is that Continental probably just has flight attendants sign up to do these flights, and then calls them when they need them, and wants whoever is “on call” to be available for any of these flights. Or it could just be incompetence on someone’s part. And, for those who have inquired, yes, I’m sure this is not a hoax.
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