Air Canada has issued an apology after it was discovered that some of its Boeing 737 MAX planes displayed maps that did not include Israel. The in-flight entertainment (IFE) system’s moving maps mistakenly replaced Israel with the term “Palestinian territories.” The airline has since deactivated the maps while they undergo updates.
The issue was initially brought to light by a passenger who pointed it out to the airline. Air Canada confirmed in a statement that the problem affected 40 of its Boeing 737 aircraft. The airline’s fleet includes 43 737 MAX twinjets out of a total of more than 350 planes.
The in-flight entertainment system in question was created by the French aerospace company Thales, with the map provided by an external company, which has not been disclosed.
Air Canada and Thales issued a joint statement on Thursday, confirming that the issue had been “resolved.”
Air Canada explained that it was informed about an issue with the interactive map on its Boeing 737 fleet, where the boundaries of certain Middle Eastern countries, including Israel, were not consistently displayed at any zoom level. The airline clarified that its general policy is to show only city names on the maps in its aircraft, but the configuration of this particular system did not comply with that policy.
The airline promptly disabled the map feature on its aircraft and has been collaborating with Thales and the map provider to reprogram the planes. A corrected version of the map will be installed on the fleet starting March 14.
Air Canada and Thales both apologized for the discomfort caused by the situation. Thales, in a separate statement, clarified that the map had been provided by a third party. They mentioned that they are working closely with the airline and the third-party provider to resolve the issue as quickly as possible.
This is not the first time such an issue has occurred in the aviation industry. In 2024, JetBlue issued an apology for a similar problem with its moving map, stating that it was switching to a new map provider and had requested adjustments to align with the US government’s map guidelines for the region. British Airways experienced a similar issue in 2013.
Additionally, after a similar incident in 2018, SWISS confirmed that their policy is to completely turn off maps when approaching to land in Tel Aviv.