thedrifter
02-19-03, 01:18 AM
Posted on Tue, Feb. 18, 2003
By INA PAIVA CORDLE
Miami Herald
MIAMI - Major airlines may be skimping on meals and magazines for their everyday passengers, but the nation's military is flying high with food and creature comforts.
Sitting in the same seats used by commercial travelers, military reservists get nearly around-the-clock meals and snacks as they sit surrounded by pillows, blankets and reading material.
They can even get playing cards for a round of gin or poker on those long, boring flights to Kuwait.
The military troops still travel in style, at a time when most passengers are feeling the pinch of carrier cutbacks - affecting everything from catering to entertainment.
The Department of Defense on Feb. 8 activated the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, saying it will initially mobilize up to 78 civilian passenger and cargo jets from 22 airlines to help transport soldiers and equipment to the Middle East for a potential war with Iraq.
The first flights left Feb. 10 from March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, Calif., said Maj. Kathryn Barnsley. Initially, 47 passenger planes will be used and 31 wide-body cargo planes may be called later.
Among the early carriers are American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Cargo planes will come from FedEx, DHL, Miami's Arrow Air, and others. Miramar, Fla.-based Spirit Airlines could be used in later phases of the operation.
The military had been using commercial jetliners even before the Feb. 8 announcement.
Before the activation, American Airlines was asked to fly two Boeing 777 charters, said spokesman Al Becker. Each plane holds 245 seats and is operated by three pilots and 12 flight attendants, he said.
Charter carrier Miami Air International also has been flying frequently for the military and will be part of the CRAF program. In the past, its planes have carried troops to Guantanamo, Europe, Hawaii, South Korea, Vietnam and Kuwait.
"Department of Defense-approved carriers do military flights on a regular basis, but not to the degree that we are now," said Robert Conser, Miami Air's vice president of sales and marketing.
Airlines are compensated based passenger-per-mile formula. For a 4,000-mile flight carrying 330 passengers from Dover, Del., to Frankfurt, the military would pay $210,000, said an Air Mobility Command official.
Carriers are not permitted to say where their planes are flying or when they are leaving.
But airlines must follow a litany of rules, including those governing onboard comforts.
On military flights, Miami Air must supply enough pillows for 90 percent of the passengers, or 130 pillows for a full 173-seat Boeing 727 or Boeing 737, Conser said. The planes must also stock blankets for 50 percent of the passengers carried.
The aircraft also has to have one air sick bag per passenger, plus an extra 20, in case of a rough ride.
For troops' reading pleasure, the planes must carry 55 magazines. While the titles are not regulated, each plane must have six weekly and six monthly periodicals.
Also required: nine decks of playing cards.
Then there are the special touches in the bathroom, including a requirement that each plane be equipped with three cans of deodorizers.
As for meals, there are no cutting corners for troops.
Breakfast must be served from 6 to 7:30 a.m.; lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., dinner from 5 to 6:30 p.m.; and a nighttime snack from 11 p.m. until 1 a.m.
If a mission is scheduled to depart or land up to one hour before or after a meal or snack time, the food still must be served, Conser said.
On most trans-Atlantic flights, commercial passengers get similar treatment. But on domestic flights, airlines have been increasingly stingy with food, beverages, and pillows and blankets.
Though the CRAF program was established in 1951, this is only the second time it has been activated. The first was during the Gulf War in 1991. The current program allows the government to call upon up to 927 aircraft from 33 commercial carriers.
For fiscal 2003, the Department of Defense contract guarantees $394 million of business for the CRAF airlines. The Air Force's Air Mobility Command estimates that throughout the year it will also award more than $224 million in additional business.
Sempers,
Roger
By INA PAIVA CORDLE
Miami Herald
MIAMI - Major airlines may be skimping on meals and magazines for their everyday passengers, but the nation's military is flying high with food and creature comforts.
Sitting in the same seats used by commercial travelers, military reservists get nearly around-the-clock meals and snacks as they sit surrounded by pillows, blankets and reading material.
They can even get playing cards for a round of gin or poker on those long, boring flights to Kuwait.
The military troops still travel in style, at a time when most passengers are feeling the pinch of carrier cutbacks - affecting everything from catering to entertainment.
The Department of Defense on Feb. 8 activated the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, saying it will initially mobilize up to 78 civilian passenger and cargo jets from 22 airlines to help transport soldiers and equipment to the Middle East for a potential war with Iraq.
The first flights left Feb. 10 from March Air Reserve Base in Riverside, Calif., said Maj. Kathryn Barnsley. Initially, 47 passenger planes will be used and 31 wide-body cargo planes may be called later.
Among the early carriers are American Airlines, United Airlines and Delta Air Lines. Cargo planes will come from FedEx, DHL, Miami's Arrow Air, and others. Miramar, Fla.-based Spirit Airlines could be used in later phases of the operation.
The military had been using commercial jetliners even before the Feb. 8 announcement.
Before the activation, American Airlines was asked to fly two Boeing 777 charters, said spokesman Al Becker. Each plane holds 245 seats and is operated by three pilots and 12 flight attendants, he said.
Charter carrier Miami Air International also has been flying frequently for the military and will be part of the CRAF program. In the past, its planes have carried troops to Guantanamo, Europe, Hawaii, South Korea, Vietnam and Kuwait.
"Department of Defense-approved carriers do military flights on a regular basis, but not to the degree that we are now," said Robert Conser, Miami Air's vice president of sales and marketing.
Airlines are compensated based passenger-per-mile formula. For a 4,000-mile flight carrying 330 passengers from Dover, Del., to Frankfurt, the military would pay $210,000, said an Air Mobility Command official.
Carriers are not permitted to say where their planes are flying or when they are leaving.
But airlines must follow a litany of rules, including those governing onboard comforts.
On military flights, Miami Air must supply enough pillows for 90 percent of the passengers, or 130 pillows for a full 173-seat Boeing 727 or Boeing 737, Conser said. The planes must also stock blankets for 50 percent of the passengers carried.
The aircraft also has to have one air sick bag per passenger, plus an extra 20, in case of a rough ride.
For troops' reading pleasure, the planes must carry 55 magazines. While the titles are not regulated, each plane must have six weekly and six monthly periodicals.
Also required: nine decks of playing cards.
Then there are the special touches in the bathroom, including a requirement that each plane be equipped with three cans of deodorizers.
As for meals, there are no cutting corners for troops.
Breakfast must be served from 6 to 7:30 a.m.; lunch from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., dinner from 5 to 6:30 p.m.; and a nighttime snack from 11 p.m. until 1 a.m.
If a mission is scheduled to depart or land up to one hour before or after a meal or snack time, the food still must be served, Conser said.
On most trans-Atlantic flights, commercial passengers get similar treatment. But on domestic flights, airlines have been increasingly stingy with food, beverages, and pillows and blankets.
Though the CRAF program was established in 1951, this is only the second time it has been activated. The first was during the Gulf War in 1991. The current program allows the government to call upon up to 927 aircraft from 33 commercial carriers.
For fiscal 2003, the Department of Defense contract guarantees $394 million of business for the CRAF airlines. The Air Force's Air Mobility Command estimates that throughout the year it will also award more than $224 million in additional business.
Sempers,
Roger