American Airlines was recognized by the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation for helping a passenger reach Rabbi Eli Schlanger's funeral after the Dec. 15, 2025 Bondi Beach attack. LAX managers delayed the Los Angeles–Sydney departure, repositioned gates and escorted the passenger from an arriving Miami flight so he could catch the connection. The action earned American a medal of valor for "extraordinary compassion and moral leadership."
American Airlines Honored for Helping Passenger Reach Rabbi's Funeral After Sydney Attack
Mourners at the funeral of Rabbi Eli Schlanger approach the vehicle carrying his body following his Dec. 17th funeral in Sydney. . (Photo by George Chan)Getty Images
Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation (AJCF) honored American Airlines for taking extraordinary steps to help a passenger reach the funeral of Rabbi Eli Schlanger after the Dec. 15, 2025, terrorist attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney.
The passenger, Eli Rutman, was booked on two separate tickets: Miami–Los Angeles on American Airlines and Los Angeles–Sydney on another carrier. When the Miami–Los Angeles leg was delayed by roughly two hours, Rutman faced missing his Sydney connection and being stranded in Los Angeles.
How American Responded
LAX managers coordinated an unusually compassionate response. They delayed American's Los Angeles–Sydney departure, repositioned the arriving Miami flight to a gate two slots away from the Sydney departure, moved Rutman to a front seat so he could disembark first, and personally escorted him across the tarmac to the waiting Sydney aircraft. The Sydney flight departed about 46 minutes late. Rutman was carried to Sydney at no additional cost.
"I was so in awe of what American was doing," Rutman said in a video produced by the Auschwitz Jewish Center Foundation. "Even the way the flight attendant came to me and said, 'It's like there's some sort of angel out there.' You could see their open hearts. That they felt the pain of the Jewish nation that day."
The effort was led by LAX operations leaders Mohamad Najjar (LAX control center manager), Zak Rakrouki (LAX customer care manager), and Radney Robertson (managing director of LAX operations). Robertson said he was awakened while on vacation and, after being fully briefed, approved holding the international departure despite normal industry pressure to maintain on-time performance.
Operational and Financial Challenges
The team also had to navigate a payment complication: Rutman's Los Angeles–Sydney ticket was on a different carrier, and that airline would not transfer payment. Despite that, Robertson said the airline's mission of caring for people on "life's journey" made the decision straightforward. American's Integrated Operations Center (IOC) in Dallas supported the hold request, and on-duty staff executed the plan.
Context and Recognition
Rabbi Eli Schlanger was among 15 people killed and roughly 40 wounded in the mass shooting at a Chanukah celebration on Bondi Beach. Rutman was a childhood friend of Schlanger's and sought to attend the rabbi's funeral on Dec. 17.
The AJCF presented American Airlines with a medal of valor for an "extraordinary act of compassion and moral leadership" during the foundation's annual dinner in New York. Jack Simony, AJCF director general, said the recognition was not about correcting a failure but acknowledging an exceptional, compassionate response after an antisemitic terrorist attack.
Over the past three years the foundation has also lodged complaints about antisemitic incidents affecting airline passengers worldwide, including reports of tampering with kosher meals. A foundation spokesman said those complaints did not involve U.S. carriers.
Note: This article was originally published on Forbes.com.
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