84fiero

The VP only acts for the President if the President is incapacitated (e.g., temporarily due to surgery under general anesthesia) or becomes the President if the President dies.

Whether the President is out of town or not is irrelevant, and in fact is one of (but not the only) the main points of having AF1, vice using charter or commercial aircraft. AF1 has all of the core capabilities that the President needs (communications, data links, etc) wherever he happens to be in the world - just as if he were back at the White House.

It also is intended to be able to remain aloft for much longer periods of time and can be air-to-air refueled. That isn't possible on a chartered 767 or commercial flight.

In the event of war or other incident, all of those capabilities can be vital to national security and an intact government.

kevinsac

Considering the 747-8 initially was conceived as a freighter....the A/C system sucks. I've flown LH's plane often in F, which on this plane is Zone A; this is one of the biggest complaints for the pursers....if the temps are fine in the rest of the plane, it's freezing in F. That's where the private cabin is located.

I've not flown China Air, but have talked to two pax who also froze.

Maybe with the advent of this new AF1, there will be a modification across the whole frame.

Tchiowa

Years ago I was trying to get home to the US from Paris and Clinton landed at Orly to sign some kind of treaty. They simply shut the airport down for several hours. Missed all my connections in the US.

timfountain

748 was chosen as much for prior experience in all the additions & modifications that were added to the original presidential 747's. Also A380 would have been a crazy choice for all the political reasons already stated and two others - 1. the plane has a very uncertain future & 2. It is very limited on the airports it can land at. I am very happy that the business is going to Boeing.

relangford

I would have voted for a converted C-5A, but, in any case, the decision has been made. In spite of Airbus anti-Boeing claims and a general lack of interest in the 747-8i, I suspect KE, China Air, and LH will do just fine with that airframe. IMHO, the U.S. President should fly in a "special" aircraft as the head of the most powerful nation in the world. He/she should not fly commercial for so many reasons discussed above. Even the President of Croatia has his own dedicated aircraft (when I was there in the 1990s, you couldn't even drive near the hanger at ZAG, Pleso Airport - and there were land mines all around).

BearX220

That is not the way the federal executive works. The president does not cede command authority when he departs US territory. His infrastructure for making and transmitting decisions travels with him. That alone makes chartering or flying commercial infeasible.

That said, there is an informal rule against the president and VP being out of the country simultaneously, but that is more to support continuity of government in case of a coup or attack, inside or outside the US.

Governors usually fly commercial, but then they have no military / defense authority.

I'm surprised nobody's mentioned that President Nixon once flew commercial as a publicity stunt during the 1973 energy crisis: a UA DC-10 IAD-LAX. It was a logistic nightmare for those responsible for presidential command and control, and it ended up being a stupid, empty gesture because the 707 designated AF1 flew out to California to bring him back.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Executive_One

Too little payload / floorspace for staff, entourage, press corps; much too much new / still-proving-out technology for the comfort of the Secret Service; two few engines.

Can you imagine having to hold up the G-20 summit for 24 hours because of a UA mechanical?

GUWonder

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trave...force-one.html

LondonElite

Not wishing to stir up a hornets nest, but others manage on commercial (or chartered) flights, including the British PM for example, who recently flew back in Club World on BA from IAD to LHR after his chinwag with Obama.

BearX220

Certainly, but Cameron also takes Sunday lunch with his kids at the Kings Head on Bledington Common and diners at adjoining tables pay them no mind. Obama can do nothing of the sort without the Secret Service commandeering the restaurant for two days in advance and setting up a command truck outside. It's less of a logistic task moving the British PM around, and frankly he is less of a target, with less of a security cordon.

Sadly, of the last ten US presidents we've had two shot, one fatally, one nearly so, plus one near-miss, so there is a near-neurotic protective instinct overshadowing his every move.

LondonElite

Sadly true. I'm sure he'd prefer it the other way around, though to quote Billy Bob Thornton, "Yes, we sure do like that plane."

Nugget_Oz

Westminster System versus the Executive System. If David Cameron were no longer the prime minister it would be up to his party to determine his successor but there is a clear line of succession in the US.

It the Westminster System it's less about the individual and more about the party. The prime minister is simply the leader of the party who controls the lower house.

Non Alcoholic Vodka

I assume you mean Air China's 747-8. China Airlines doesn't have any 747-8.
Air China is from the "People's Republic of China", while China Airlines
is from "Taiwan, Province of China". They are two different airlines from
two different countries(depending on who you ask).

Sant

Non Alcoholic Vodka

you do realize that the Air Force will be buying TWO 747-8s for this purpose, right?

it will cost a lot more money to fly the POTUS on commercial flights....

JumboJet

They didn't ask me but I would have voted for the 747. My job comes with a Nissan Maxima and his comes with a 747. It's not really stretch when you think of the responsibilities each of has.