The US Department of Defense (DoD) has activated Stage I of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF), calling for US carriers to support the military’s effort to carry people who have left Afghanistan.

CRAF is a National Emergency Preparedness Program designed to augment the Department’s airlift capability and is a cooperative, voluntary program involving the DOT, DOD and the US civil air carrier industry in a partnership. Air carriers volunteer their aircraft to the CRAF program through contractual agreements with US Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM), located at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. In return, the participating carriers are given preference in carrying commercial peacetime cargo and passenger traffic for DOD.

This is the third CRAF activation in the history of the program. The first occurred in support of Operations Desert Shield/Storm (Aug.1990 to May 1991), and the second was for Operation Iraqi Freedom (Feb. 2002 to June 2003).

The current activation is for 18 aircraft: three each from American Airlines, Atlas Air, Delta Air Lines and Omni Air; two from Hawaiian Airlines; and four from United Airlines. The Department does not anticipate a major impact to commercial flights from this activation.

In a statement American Airlines commented: “American will be ready to deploy three widebody aircraft to military bases and other secure transit points on the Arabian Peninsula and in Europe to assist with the emergency evacuation of US citizens and refugees coming from Kabul, Afghanistan.

“American is part of the CRAF program and is proud to fulfil its duty to help the US military scale this humanitarian and diplomatic rescue mission. The images from Afghanistan are heart-breaking. The airline is proud and grateful of our pilots and flight attendants, who will be operating these trips to be a part of this life-saving effort.”

Delta confirmed it had been in contact with the DoD for several days leading up to the call for CRAF and is scheduled to have multiple relief flights arriving back in the US beginning Monday (23 August) morning. The airline will operate using available spare aircraft, meaning Delta’s commercial operations are not currently impacted.

“For decades, Delta has actively played a role in supporting the US Military and our troops,” said John Laughter, Delta EVP and Chief of Operations. “And we are again proud to pledge Delta people and our aircraft in support our country’s relief efforts.”

Delta routinely provides transport for US troops moving between the US and international locations.

While US airlines committed to CRAF are obliged to provide aircraft, they are crewed on a voluntary basis.

United offers Flight Attendants on the System Seniority List and Letter of Agreement #8 (LOA#8) provides for the rates of compensation, rules and working conditions with respect to the CRAF operations.

A System volunteer list will be bid and awarded and will be the recognized CRAF list until replaced as a result of any later system bid.  All Flight Attendants, regardless of status as a lineholder or reserve, are eligible to submit a bid for placement on the CRAF list.

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