El Al is the national airline of Israel; “El Al” is Hebrew for “to the skies.” The popular El Al backronymic (back acronym) nickname of “Every Landing Always Late” has been cited in print since at least 1969.
Wikipedia: El Al
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd (TASE: ELAL), trading as El Al (Hebrew: אל על, “To The Skies” or “Skywards”, Arabic: إل عال), is the flag carrier of Israel. Since its inaugural flight from Geneva to Tel Aviv in September 1948, the airline has grown to serve some 45 destinations, operating scheduled domestic and international services and cargo flights to Europe, North America, Africa and the Near and Far East from its main base in Ben Gurion International Airport.
7 September 1969, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), “Travelogue; Israelis Fast Only in War” by Douglas Bloomfield, Sunday Magazine, pg. 54, col. 2:
And no matter how well their national airline keeps to its schedule, Israelis will tell you El Al stands for Every Landing Always Late (though it actually means Onward, Upward).
15 November 1972, The Evening Times (Trenton, NJ), “Israel Keeps Its Guard Up” by Arnold C. Ropeik, pg. 24, col. 1:
El AL is often teased with the suggestion that the letters mean Every Landing Always Late. But El Al doesn’t mind and neither do the passengers. El Al remains the world’s most unhijacked airline.
7 January 1980, Los Angeles (CA) Times, “El Al Airlines Finally May Lose ‘Every Landing Always Late’ Tag” by Dial Torgerson, pg. D15:
Wildcat strikes were a way of life with El Al, which departure-lounge wits insisted stood for “Every Landing Always Late.”
Google Books
El Al:
Star in the Sky
By Marvin G. Goldman; illustrated by Mike Machat
Miami, FL: World Transport Press
1990
Pg. 44:
Yet the frequent delays meant that El Al still appealed mainly to air travelers sentimental about its ties to Israel. With good nature, they joked that El Al really was an acronym for “Every Landing Always Late”, and the Constellations were called the “El Al Cancellations.”
Google Books
Israel versus Jibril:
The thirty-year war against a master terrorist
By Samuel M. Katz
New York, NY: Paragon House
1993
Pg. 44:
El Al was already an airline known for its unreliable schedule, but the new guidelines prompted a joke taken from the El Al acronym: “El Al — Every Landing Always Late.”
Google Books
I Didn’t Know That!:
Torah News U Can Use
By Joe Bobker
Lynbrook, NY: Gefen Books
2007
Pg. 77:
El Al once stood for “Every Landing Always Late!”
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
Recent entries:
•“Never underestimate my desire at any given moment to go home” (4/23)
•“I’m a better person when I’m tan and holding a margarita” (4/23)
•“You ARE a good driver. That curb DOESN’T belong there” (4/23)
•“‘It’s been a long week.’—Me, in the middle of Tuesday” (4/23)
•“Buying frozen pizza is such a lie. ‘Oh I’ll save this for when I don’t feel like cooking’. Surprise, surprise. Day one” (4/22)
More new entries...
Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
This site is edited by Barry Popik. These are the Cookies and Privacy Policies.