UAL ramping up DOD charters to Kuwait City

magsau

Veteran
Aug 20, 2002
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ZMANN,

I was in CDG last week and ran into a CDG based FA that was deadheading to FRA to fly one of these charters. Just chatted with her in the elevator on the way to flight ops and she said most of the charters were being crewed F/A wise by LHR and FRA but there is so many trips they are using the CDG reserves now.

Do you know if the DCA 777 or 767 is getting any of this flying? If you are the guy I know then you work on the DCA schedules and would think you might have the skinny on this?

Take care and fly safe
 
FWIW,
Anyone flown one of the recent (and many more to come!) 747-400 DOD charters to Kuwait City? UAL has been flying a lot of 747-400 charters from Frankfurt to Kuwait City in the past two weeks and DOD just upped their request and UAL will be flying two/day for the next 10 days. Lots of troops heading East. My understanding is that NWA is also in the mix. DOD is looking for max 747 utilization. 777''s soon to be added to the mix from UAL.
It''d be nice to see a pic of one of our birds with the Flag flying from the cockpit on the ground at Kuwait City. I''m sure someone is up to the task.
Cheers,
Z
 
Mags,

Yeah, seems that just within the past 24 hours the request went from one/day to two/day 747's and basically DOD is asking for everything we can give them. The concern is that if the remaining U.S. carriers cannot deliver enough airlift then there is a very real possibility of CRAF being activated and putting some major crimps in everyone's international revenue flying.

Thus far it appears that NWA (and CAL to a lesser extent) is the only other of the "Big Guys" contributing significantly to the lift. It's been reported that DOD would take 10 flights/day if we could deliver. Some huge $$$$ thus far so that is the good news. Charter appears to pay more than the CRAF rates.

A concern for UAL right now is limited 747/777 aircraft and availability of crews (especially 747) without running guys out of time. Sort of a double edged sword....we've got the aircraft DOD wants but it'll cost us if they decide to activate CRAF. If that happens expect the other carriers will also be tasked accordingly. Word has it that CAL has also added 1-2 777's to the effort.

The -400's in the desert are high-time jets and approaching their Heavy Checks and we don't have the time to "quick-turn" one of those events.

Additional good news is that this will also occur on the backside of any events taking place in the "Sandbox". So expect to see similar airlift being scheduled a few months down the road. Hopefully we'll be a bit better prepared then.

These trips will be posted in "open-flying" for the respective domiciles/crews.

Cheers,
Z
 
ZMANN,

Thanks for the info. The desert may be a better place to be than around here with the news that has been filtering down today.......
 
Airlines and Pentagon Discuss Using Commercial Transport Fleet
By MICHELINE MAYNARD


he nation's airlines have held initial discussions with the Pentagon about mobilizing a fleet of commercial and air cargo planes for use in the event of a war with Iraq, aviation officials said yesterday.

Such an action would mark only the second time in history that the military had mobilized the Civilian Reserve Air Fleet, a standby arrangement that lets the Pentagon call upon up to 925 aircraft and their crews during global conflicts. The fleet, established in 1951, was used during the Persian Gulf war to transport troops and equipment abroad.

The talks took place last week, said officials of the Air Mobility Command, based at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois. Maj. Gen. Roger A. Brady, director of operations for the command, spoke with officials of several of the two dozen airline and cargo carriers that take part in the air fleet, military officials said.

The primary purpose of the conversations, they said, was to ask carriers about their willingness to provide more charter planes for troop movements, short of a mobilization. No date for a mobilization has been set, aviation officials said.

Air carriers sign contracts pledging to take part in the fleet during military conflicts in return for Pentagon business during normal times. A war in Iraq would be likely to result in the most limited mobilization, which would involve 78 passenger and cargo jets and up to 2,000 crew members, military and airline officials said.

A mobilization would be a source of revenue for the airlines. During the gulf war, the Pentagon spent $1.5 billion on air fleet use. Commercial carriers provided 62 percent of the flights that carried troops and 27 percent of those carrying equipment, the Pentagon said.

Six major carriers — Delta, Northwest, American, Continental, United and US Airways — take part in the program, as well as five smaller passenger carriers and charter airlines. Cargo carriers include Federal Express, DHL International and U.P.S.

The fleet, which includes the industry's biggest aircraft, can be deployed in three stages. The first stage, the level reached in the gulf war, is intended for activation in a regional conflict.

Stage 2 applies in the case of a "major theater war." Some 292 aircraft, including medical evacuation planes flown by Delta and US Airways, would be deployed.

In Stage 3, declared in the event of the most extensive crisis, the airlines and cargo carriers would turn over 880 passenger and cargo planes and 45 medical evacuation craft.
 
Yer darn right, Eric.

-------------------------------------------

Reuters
U.S. officials: no plot to blow up troop aircraft
Monday January 13, 12:15 pm ET

WASHINGTON, Jan 13 (Reuters) - U.S. officials said on Monday they had no intelligence showing a plot to blow up aircraft carrying troops, dismissing a newspaper report that said authorities had specific evidence about a planned attack.

"There is no such intelligence," one U.S. official told Reuters. Other U.S. officials also said they had not seen any intelligence about such a plot.

The New York Times in Monday's editions, citing officials, said in the past three weeks U.S. intelligence had gathered credible evidence of a plot to bomb an airliner contracted to fly troops and freight for the military to the Gulf.

The newspaper, citing military and intelligence officials, said the military had come up with intelligence identifying a specific civilian airline, U.S. airport and date and time of a possible attack.

But U.S. officials with knowledge of recent intelligence reports told Reuters they had seen no evidence of such a plot.

The Pentagon has ordered the deployment of thousands of additional military forces to the Gulf in the past week as the United States prepares for any potential war against Iraq.


http://biz.yahoo.com/rm/030113/iraq_usa_threat_1.html