United Airlines pulls pilot who praised October 7 from flight schedule

He described the attack as “resistance by brave people” and said American media coverage was skewed toward Israel.

By Gila Isaacson, JFeed

United Airlines has taken pilot Ibrahim R. Mossallam off active flight duty and removed him from its flight schedule through at least the end of October, Israeli journalist Libby Blanca Alon reported.

According to Alon, the airline is carrying out a renewed review of his case.

Mossallam will keep receiving his salary during the suspension and is not expected to fly passengers in the near term.

United has not publicly confirmed the report.

Mossallam first drew attention in November 2023, when the watchdog group StopAntisemitism published a Facebook post he had written on October 7 itself, the day Hamas terrorists murdered some 1,200 people in southern Israel.

In it he described the attack as “resistance by brave people” and said American media coverage was skewed toward Israel.

The post set off a wave of anger from United customers, many of whom said they would not fly with the airline while he remained in the cockpit.

Former White House Middle East envoy Jason Greenblatt was among those who pressed United to act.

The airline said at the time that it had removed him from service with pay while it looked into the matter.

The new report comes on the third anniversary of the attack.