United Airlines

What is United Airlines' role in the arms supply chain?

United Airlines carried at least 2,761 military cargo shipments to Israel on passenger flights between 24 July 2025 and 27 February 2026, all but 45 of them out of Newark Liberty International Airport, according to a 9 September 2026 report by the Movement Research Unit, the Palestinian Youth Movement, People's Embargo for Palestine and the Democratic Socialists of America. Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries received 2,070 of them, and United resumed its Newark to Tel Aviv flights on 8 September 2026. United Airlines appears in Break the Chain's audited database of companies with a documented role moving military cargo through the New York metro area, classified as a passenger and cargo airline. The entry is tied to 3 published sources cited on this page.

Where is United Airlines located?

United Airlines is in Newark / Jersey City, within the New York and New Jersey gateway that Break the Chain maps: JFK Airport, Port Newark and Elizabeth, and the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

What is the evidence for including United Airlines?

United Airlines has transported ammunition handling systems to Israel which are typically used in the turrets for armoured personnel carriers. A company appears here based on already-published sources, which is not a legal conclusion about the company. The sources are listed on this page.

Does United Airlines ship weapons to Israel?

United Airlines carried at least 2,761 Israel-bound military cargo shipments on its passenger flights between 24 July 2025 and 27 February 2026, according to the 9 September 2026 report by the Movement Research Unit, the Palestinian Youth Movement, People's Embargo for Palestine and the Democratic Socialists of America. In a sample of 546 shipments from July to October 2025, 131 were F-35 parts, including BRU-68 bomb release units, and 28 were tank parts, including sights for the Merkava tank. The report says only that sample had its contents analyzed and that some items could be civilian avionics, and The Intercept reports that the report found no evidence that United carried explicitly hazardous material aboard passenger flights.

Is United Airlines still flying to Israel?

United suspended its flights from the United States to Israel after the U.S.-Israel war on Iran began on 28 February 2026, and resumed nonstop flights from Newark to Ben Gurion on 8 September 2026. The report said United was set to carry five shipments to Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries on passenger flight UA90 out of Newark the next day. While its own flights were suspended, United air waybills for Elbit-bound cargo show the shipments leaving JFK on Arkia Israeli Airlines flights.

How many military shipments has United Airlines carried to Israel?

At least 2,761 between 24 July 2025 and 27 February 2026: 2,070 to Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries, 414 to Hatzor Airbase, 135 to Nevatim Airbase, home of Israel's entire F-35I fleet, 78 to Lockheed Martin Israel and 64 to the Israeli Ministry of Defense. The report's flight table adds up to 160 passenger flights.

Which airport do United's military shipments to Israel leave from?

Newark Liberty International Airport. All but 45 of the 2,761 shipments left the United States from Newark, 1,646 of them on 73 flights of UA90 and 919 on 55 flights of UA84, and the other 45 left from Chicago O'Hare and Washington Dulles. In a separate sample of 2,555 analyzed military cargo shipments to Israel out of Newark from June 2025 to February 2026, 2,479, or 97 percent, flew United.

Does United carry the military cargo on passenger planes?

Yes. The report found that all of the documented shipments flew on passenger flights, and that UA84 and UA90, which carried 2,565 of them from Newark to Tel Aviv, operate as passenger flights according to United's own website.

What links United Airlines to Elbit Systems?

Elbit Systems and its subsidiaries received 2,070 of the 2,761 shipments, more than any other destination. Where senders were visible, they included Lockheed Martin and Elbit Systems' U.S. branch, according to the report's authors (The Intercept). The five shipments set to fly on UA90 on 9 September 2026 were bound for Elbit units in Rehovot, Ramat Hasharon (Elbit Systems Land, formerly IMI Systems) and Karmiel (The Intercept).