Air Canada erases Israel on maps, apologizes

Air Canada has apologized for an error that led to its in-flight entertainment systems not displaying Israel correctly. Some of the airline's Boeing 737 MAX planes showed the name "Palestinian Territories" instead of Israel. This issue came to light during the ongoing Israel-Hamas conflict. A passenger reported the problem, prompting Air Canada to take action. The airline said that 40 planes had incorrect maps, which have since been disabled until they can be updated. The map issue was created by a third-party vendor linked to Thales, the company that produced the entertainment systems. In a joint statement, Air Canada and Thales clarified that their maps are generally meant to show city names only. However, this particular configuration did not follow that policy. The airline is working to fix the problem, and updates are expected to be installed on the affected aircraft soon. This is not the first time an airline has faced such issues. In 2024, JetBlue also apologized for a similar mistake where Israel was labeled incorrectly. They stated that changes were being made to their map provider to prevent future errors.