Observant Jews don't fly on planes, drive in cars, or use money on the Sabbath, either. So it's fairly unlikely that someone who observes the Sabbath would be asked to turn on a cellphone by the TSA at that time.
This is actually a very good point...I wonder if there will be a religious exemption. Some Orthodox Jews can be exceptionally strict (I once was on a delayed flight where we had to offload some of the passengers, since due to the delays their connecting flight would have taken place on the Sabbath).
While an Orthodox Jew cannot directly ask you to take his cellphone and turn it on, he or she will be indifferent to you taking and power cycling it voluntarily. It's the intent and activity that's considered sinful, not state of the device per se.
Also it's perfectly normal to leave a phone powered on for a Sabbath, if you don't actively use it. Same applies to e.g. elevators, that just cruise in an endless loop and stop on every floor. You can ride in it, as long as you aren't the operator.
It's unlikely that an Orthodox Jew will fly an El Al plane. Possible, but unlikely.
As for the fact that El Al doesn't fly on the Sabbath: It used to, and stopped doing so thanks to a combination of coalition politics (since it was a state-owned airline) and business reasons. True, El Al would make lots of money if it also flew on the Sabbath -- but it would lose the business of many observant Jews, who fly because of its adherence to these rules.
However, El Al has a subsidiary called Sandor that does fly on Saturdays. I'm not sure about its recently launched low-cost subsidiary, called Up.
I wouldn't mind it if El Al were to fly on the Sabbath, despite the fact that I observe Jewish law. However, I've taken El Al flights on several occasions because they were the only ones who gave me enough time to get from my house to the airport on Saturday night, after the Sabbath ended.
It's unlikely that an Orthodox Jew will fly an El Al plane. Possible, but unlikely.
Why do you think so? I have to admit that I was just guessing, but it seemed logical (most notably the fact that only kosher food is available). What alternatives does an orthodox Jew really have? Since it's just a guess and I certainly don't have any hard data, I could be wrong, of course.
True, El Al would make lots of money if it also flew on the Sabbath -- but it would lose the business of many observant Jews, who fly because of its adherence to these rules.
I was not even thinking about lost revenue, but about the fact that the planes just lie idle for a minimum of 24 hours every week. A plane, which is not in the air is a very, very expensive entity.
> Why do you think so? I have to admit that I was just guessing, but it seemed logical
> (most notably the fact that only kosher food is available). What alternatives does an orthodox Jew really have?
Orthodox Jews are about 20 percent of the Israeli population, and have a lot of different job options -- teachers, professors, shop owners, lawyers, bankers, programmers, managers, insurance salesmen, etc. The sandwich shop from which I bought lunch today is Orthodox, as is the receptionist at the first client I met with.
Virtually every public venue in Israel has kosher food. Every single one of my clients has a kosher cafeteria for their employees. Those that don't have cafeterias are located a short walk from kosher restaurants and supermarkets.
Most Israelis aren't religiously observant, but most do (according to surveys I read years ago) want some degree of kosher food in their lives. Whether they approve of the current mix of religion and state is another question altogether. The haredim (sometimes known as "ultra-Orthodox") are a different population altogether; while they're religiously observant, the fact that many (or most) of their men don't work or serve in the army has been a major source of political tension for decades.
Given that about 20 percent of the population is religiously observant, that El Al pilots all come from the air force, and that religious Jews are a growing proportion of soldiers in elite units, I'm going to guess that we'll see more and more religiously observant El Al pilots in the future. But I've flown on El Al a lot, and I can't remember ever seeing a male flight attendant (which El Al has on every single flight) or pilot saying "goodbye" to us while wearing a kippa (i.e., head covering).