By MICHELINE MAYNARD
Published: January 22, 2005
At the slowest time of the year for the nation's struggling airlines, one big customer, the Pentagon, wants to give them more business.
According to a government memorandum circulated this week, the Pentagon has increased its spending by 15 percent so far this year on flights by passenger airlines, with the heaviest traffic expected in February and March.
The memo also said that the two dozen airlines, charter companies and cargo carriers that participate in a program, the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, may also be given the opportunity to fly goods and troops to countries in South Asia that were ravaged by the tsunami, supplementing a relief effort by the military.
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