Civilian planes may be needed to move troops
By Esther Schrader and James Peltz
Los Angeles Times
WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is drafting plans to commandeer dozens of civilian airliners to ferry troops to the Persian Gulf. It would be just the second time the military has exercised such powers since gaining the authority following the Korean War.
Pentagon officials say the buildup of forces in preparation for a possible war with Iraq has begun to stretch resources for transporting troops and equipment.
The woeful condition of the airline industry has raised questions about the economic impact of such a call-up. But industry officials and analysts say privately that they are more worried about the effect of a war on commercial air travel than about the costs of activating the Civil Reserve Air Fleet.
With more than 900 aircraft mothballed because of the slump in air travel, the industry has plenty of excess capacity to meet the Pentagon's needs.
"Overarching everything is that, if there's a war, I think the airlines feel they'll be seriously harmed, based on their experience of the Gulf War," when business among domestic airlines declined 8 percent, said one airline-industry observer who is closely monitoring the negotiations between the airlines and the Pentagon.
"The American public post-9/11 is very jittery about flying. Doing government work takes up a small bit of excess capacity, but overall a war is very, very bad for the airlines."
Airline and military officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say that no decision has been made to call up aircraft.
But a senior Defense official acknowledged this week that such a call-up is "part of the plan" as the buildup of forces around Iraq gains speed. Two of the nation's largest carriers confirmed they are in negotiations with the Department of Defense about using CRAF.
"We have had discussions with the Department of Defense about it, in anticipation that at some point, given the way things are going, a call-up could occur," an industry official said. "CRAF is a program that is relied on when the bell goes off."
The civilian air fleet was created in 1951 as a way to boost airlift capacity during times of crisis. Under the program, airlines agree to loan planes and crews to the military in wartime for a fee and the promise of government business in peacetime.
The program ferried more than 400,000 troops to the Persian Gulf in 1991 — the only time CRAF has been used. But as air carriers' financial condition has worsened, the Pentagon has had trouble coaxing air carriers to stay in the program.
Airlines have no choice, once enrolled in the program, but to provide the planes the military requests. Virtually every major domestic carrier is enrolled in CRAF, which has long been considered as much a patriotic duty as a business proposition.
The military is chiefly interested in wide-bodied planes, such as 747s, 767s and DC-10s, which can fit large numbers of troops and can be retrofitted relatively easily to carry heavy cargo. Each airline makes its own arrangement with the Air Force, listing in advance the type and number of aircraft it will provide under given circumstances.
But as 747s have been gradually fazed out in favor of smaller craft, Defense officials have worried that the civilian airlines might not be able to meet the military's needs.
Even so, there are 927 planes from more than 30 airlines, air-cargo operators and charter services enrolled, the General Accounting Office, Congress' investigating arm, said in a report Dec. 30.
The airlines "can respond to an emergency or a war within the required number of aircraft and crews and within the required time frame," the report said.
Having some of their planes carrying troops and cargo instead of commercial passengers wouldn't help the airline's financial condition, but it probably wouldn't hurt them much either, airline officials said.
The larger industry concern is a war itself. If fighting breaks out, the airlines fear that travel would weaken further and that fuel prices would soar.
