Delta denies discrimination

ATLANTA, June 27 (UPI) -- Delta Airlines said it was not sharing its passenger reward programs with Saudi Arabian Airlines, flying to Saudi Arabia or discriminating against Jews.

"Delta Air Lines does not discriminate nor do we condone discrimination against any of our customers in regards to age, race, nationality, religion or gender," the airline said in a statement posted online.

The airline turned defensive after an article posted on the Internet said Jews were forbidden to fly to Saudi Arabia, The Miami Herald reported Monday.

Saudi Arabian Airlines said it was joining the SkyTeam airline alliance next year, which gives it a direct link to Delta.

Nail al-Jubeir, a spokesman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington, called reports that Saudi Arabia denied visas to Jews "nonsense," and said denial of visas to citizens of other countries with Israel stamped on passports had stopped years ago, a claim refuted on the U.S. State Department Web site that says some U.S. citizens with passports that show they had visited Israel had been denied visas.

"They were refused a Saudi visa because their passports reflected travel to Israel or indicated they were born in Israel," the Web site says.

The Herald also attributed an unnamed spokesman for the Saudi Arabian Embassy as saying visas were denied to persons with Israeli passports.

If both statements are true, the difference, which may be a fine line for some, is that holding an Israeli passport and being Jewish are not always one and the same thing.

Al-Jubeir said if requested, Saudi Arabian authorities would investigate complaints of people denied a visa because of a stamp on the passport that indicated they had visited Israel.

Delta spokesman Trebor Banstetter in a statement said, "visa requirements to enter any country are dictated by that nation's government, not the airlines, and they apply to anyone entering the country."

Through the alliance, Delta was allowing Saudi Arabian Airlines passengers to coordinate flight bookings, Banstetter said.

Michael Salberg, director of international affairs at the Anti-Defamation League, said the organization "called on Delta and the other airlines to assure that that discriminatory impact doesn't happen and not engage or maintain alliances until they can assure their passengers that they won't be discriminated against."