In early September 2024, reports emerged that JetBlue Airlines had displayed an inaccurate in-flight map that gave the false impression much of
The reports of the mislabeled in-flight map were true, and as a result of the viral nature of the claim, JetBlue issued a public apology.
Israeli news outlet N12 broke the story on Sept. 3, 2024. According to our translation of the Hebrew article, Hodia Kenfo, an Israeli student studying in the U.S., was discussing Israel with the passenger next to her during a flight from Miami to San Diego. Kenfo explained to N12:
"It happens a lot that the word Israel creates a discourse, and while we were talking
I wanted to show him where Israel is located on the map on the screens on the plane. When I saw the map I was amazed. […]
"It was written 'Territory of Palestine' in an inscription significantly larger than the word Israel, and in such a location that it literally spread throughout the entire territory of the State of Israel."
Several social media posts shared the news about the incorrect map, including one Instagram post that linked to a story published by Jerusalem Post on Sept. 4 and had receiving more than 11,000 likes, as of this writing:
(wearetov/Instagram)
Many social media users, especially those with ties to Israel, voiced their discontent, questioning how such an error could occur on an international airline (although JetBlue does not fly to Israel). Some speculated about political bias, with one commenter
The map in question placed the label "Palestinian Territories" between the Israeli cities of Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, while the name "Israel" appeared farther north on the map,
Additionally, the Golan Heights, located on Israel's northern border, was included within Syria's borders on the map. The Golan Heights — a strategic plateau controlled by Israel since its capture from Syria in 1967 during the Six-Day War — is widely recognized as contested territory between Israel and Syria.
"It's really, really annoying and frustrating to see this after the year we've had," Kenfo told N12.
JetBlue's Response
As a result of the viral backlash, JetBlue responded to the public criticism, reiterating that the map was not an accurate representation of the region and reaffirming its commitment to making the necessary adjustments. The airline also said it intended to switch to a new map vendor to prevent future error. In a statement provided to Snopes, the airline said:
The flight tracker app is provided to JetBlue by our inflight entertainment content provider who, in turn, licenses it from a third-party vendor. After a careful review, we have decided to switch to a new map vendor.
It's core to our mission and values that our customers feel welcome and safe onboard, and we're sorry for the concern this has caused. No one on the JetBlue team was involved with drawing or labeling the map of the region and we were not previously aware of the issue.
While our content provider works on transitioning to the new vendor, we have also asked the current vendor to adjust our onboard map so that it aligns with the U.S. government's map guidance for the region.
We're working to make these changes as quickly as possible, and the providers tell us it will likely take a couple weeks of the first set of changes to be loaded on the aircraft systems across our fleet.
The claim that JetBlue Airlines' in-flight map created the false impression that parts of Israel were in the
Snopes has previously fact-checked claims about airlines, including the true story of flights transporting unaccompanied immigrant children to detention facilities, and the false claim that Delta Air Lines gave members of Planned Parenthood discounted rates.