FOIA Docs Suggest That A USAF Boeing Isn't Big Enough For Speaker and Entourage

ANN APRIL 1st "SPECIAL" EDITION: Recent Freedom of Information Act requests by the Aero-News network, in concert with the Reporters Committee For A Free Press, seem to indicate that Airbus Industries has been involved in high-level discussion with the Department of Defense for several months over the possible lease of an A380 Airbus.

The process began when House Speaker Pelosi, in her weekly trips to the West Coast found that her progression form various USAF VIP Gulfstreams to various USAF VIP Boeings, was being tightly constrained as her entourage grew over the course of the last few months. "Since Obama was elected, the upwardly-mobile Speaker has been carting hundreds of fawning staff and other folks back and forth to the West Coast each week, to continue meetings and consultations near her home in California," notes an anonymous USAF source.

"Everybody seems to want to ride this gravy train and every week the list grows by a number of people," she added, "it's giving our loadmasters ulcers."

Speaker Pelosi has received some criticism for her use of military aircraft and the apparent request to operate one of the largest civilians airliners in the world only seems destined to give her critics apoplexy.

Use of such aircraft, in and of itself, is not the problem; since the days following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, it has been White House policy for the House leader to travel to his or her congressional district via military aircraft, for security reasons.

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert used a smaller C-20B (a variant of the Gulfstream III) to travel to and from his district in Illinois. In addition to smaller jets, a C-32A, C-40B and C-37A -- military variants of the Boeing 757-200 and 737-700, and Gulfstream V respectively -- are available for longer-range flights by House personnel, or for trips requiring a large entourage.

ANN reported in February 2007 about Pelosi's insistence she use the largest plane available, the C-32A, to travel from DC to her California home. Republicans sneered at "Pelosi One," though in truth most couldn't argue with her justification: that she often used the long transcontinental flight to meet with staffers, fellow colleagues, and even her family -- and since election day the list has grown dramatically... to the point where even the suggestion using Air Force One (when the president wasn't using it) was met with derision, "Air Force One is simply not big enough to meet the needs of such an important and busy politician," a Pelosi staffer is reported as having informed senior Pentagon officials, who argued for the Presidential Boeings in a last ditch effort to avoid having to resort to the larger Airbus A380.

The negotiations will revolve around the acquisition of at least four Airbus A380s in order to provide immediate availablity for the Speaker ("God Forbid she should have to put off a trip for want of an airplane," notes Pelosi's senior staff), as well as additional airframes should her needs continue to expand to require the use of additional airframes. USAF officials are also now engaged in site surveys to see what exactly will be required to modify various airport locations to handle the weight and other special needs of the larger A380. Thankfully; it appears that stimulus funds will be available for the initial $850 million in site updates currently estimated to handle the behemoth. Another $20 million in earmarks are being considrered in order to outfit the A3870 with a proper executive interior, "befitting Speaker Pelosi's status as a world leader." ANN will keep you updated as this story continues to develop.

FMI: www.isanA380enough.com