Editing El Al (section)

=== 1990s: End of receivership, Ethiopian Jews airlifted ===
In January 1990, [[North American Airlines]] began providing [[regional airline|feeder service]]s to El Al's US destinations. El Al held a 24.9 percent stake in the airline until selling it back to Dan McKinnon in July 2003. By this time, El Al was operating a fleet of 20 aircraft, including nine Boeing 747s, and had begun replacing its aging Boeing 707s with the [[Boeing 757]]. Early that year, following the [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|collapse]] of the [[Soviet Union]], El Al inaugurated regular flights to Moscow. No [[airlift]]s from the former [[Soviet Union]] were possible at the time but permission was granted in 1991. Charter flights commenced in August 1991, with [[1990s Post-Soviet aliyah|immigrants]] also occupying all available seats on El Al's scheduled routes. In cooperation with [[Aeroflot]], El Al flew more than 400,000 Jewish immigrants to Israel within a three-year period.

[[File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - Ethiopian immigrants coming off a Boeing jet.jpg|thumb|El Al helped with the airlifting of [[Ethiopian Jews in Israel|Ethiopian immigrants]] from [[Ethiopia]] during [[Operation Solomon]] in 1991.]]

On 24 May 1991, an El Al Boeing 747 cargo plane airlifted a record-breaking 1,088 [[Beta Israel|Ethiopian Jews]] from [[Addis Ababa]] to Israel in the framework of [[Operation Solomon]]. Two babies were born during the flight. The plane carried twice as many passengers as it was designed for.<ref name="ThinkQuest">{{cite web|url=http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110426/records/records1.html |title=Aviation World Records |access-date=2007-05-07 |publisher=Think Quest |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070228010738/http://library.thinkquest.org/J0110426/records/records1.html |archive-date=2007-02-28 }}</ref> In less than 36 hours, 14,500 [[History of the Jews in Ethiopia|Ethiopian Jews]] were flown to Israel.<ref name="NYTEthiopianJews">{{cite news |url= https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/26/world/ethiopian-jews-and-israelis-exult-as-airlift-is-completed.html?pagewanted=all |title=Ethiopian Jews and Israelis Exult as Airlift Is Completed |work=The New York Times |last=Brinkley |first=Joel |date= May 26, 1991}}</ref> On 27 April 1994, El Al received its first [[Boeing 747-400]].<ref name="answers" /><ref>{{cite news | title=El Al flies olim on first direct charter | work=The Jerusalem Post | url=https://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/99706558.html?dids=99706558:99706558&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Nov+28%2C+1991&author=HERB+KEINON&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=14&desc=EL+AL+FLIES+OLIM+ON+FIRST+DIRECT+CHARTER | date=November 28, 1991 | access-date=2007-05-31 | first=Herb | last=Keinin | archive-date=2007-10-01 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071001044827/http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/jpost/access/99706558.html?dids=99706558:99706558&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&date=Nov+28,+1991&author=HERB+KEINON&pub=Jerusalem+Post&edition=&startpage=14&desc=EL+AL+FLIES+OLIM+ON+FIRST+DIRECT+CHARTER | url-status=dead }}</ref>

El Al flights were inaugurated to the [[Far East]]{{when|date=May 2016}} and, in 1995, El Al signed its first [[codesharing agreement]] with [[American Airlines]].<ref name="answers" /> In February 1995, the receivership under which the airline had technically been operating since 1982 came to an end.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/3508/edition_id/62/format/html/displaystory.html | title=El Al Airlines posts $15 million profits | access-date=2007-05-07| date=1996-04-26 | publisher=Jewish Bulletin Online}}</ref> In June 1996, El Al recorded its first flight from Israel to [[Amman]], [[Jordan]].<ref name="History of El Al" />

In 1996, El Al recorded US$83.1 million in losses, due to the resumption of terrorist activities and the government's [[open skies]] policy.<ref name="answers" /> To keep its planes flying during this period, El Al introduced flights "to nowhere": passengers were offered various kinds of [[in-flight entertainment]] as the plane circled the Mediterranean. One-day shopping trips to [[London]] and visits to religious sites in eastern Europe were also promoted.<ref name="answers" /> In 1997, El Al opened a separate cargo division.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.elal.co.il/ELAL/English/ELALCargo/ProfileCargo.htm | title=El Al Cargo Profile | access-date=2012-10-03 | publisher=El Al}}</ref>{{clarify|reason=it already had one, didn't it?|date=May 2016}}