The U.S. military has turned to a little-used deal

[khatunhumaira]

with commercial airlines and charter companies, whereby it can force them to supply planes to meet various operational requirements in a crisis, to support evacuations in courses outside Afghanistan. Some two dozen companies are part of this civilian reserve air fleet and agree to provide planes and crews in less than 24 hours, if necessary. In this case, the planes will not fly directly to Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul, the Afghan capital, which is the hub of the evacuation mission, but rather will help transport the evacuees who have been brought to intermediate destinations. to more permanent destinations.

The Pentagon has announced that Secretary of Defense Lloyd phone number library Austin has ordered the US Transportation Command (TRANSCOM) to activate Phase I of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF). At the time of writing, American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines and Omni Air are each in the process of contributing three aircraft as part of this activation. Four more would come from United Airlines, while Hawaiian Airlines would provide two more. US military officials have not specified exactly what types of aircraft make up this fleet of 18 aircraft in total.

USMC

US Marines arrive at the March Air Reserve Base in California in 2004 after leaving Iraq on a chartered airliner.


The Ministry of Defense and the Ministry of Commerce formally established the CRAF in December 1951. The decision was a direct result of the experiences of the Berlin Airlift a few years earlier, in which commercial planes had been used in a ad hoc manner.

Airlines and charter air transport companies participate in CRAF through contracts with TRANSCOM. Participation is completely voluntary, but companies that do so are preferred when competing for US military passenger and peacetime air cargo contracts as an incentive.