His upgrade is pre-ordained, is it not?.? :cool:^^^:D

Holy Cow!!! The Papal bull reference.....best thing I've read online in ages!

It is, isn't it? (Both lines above.)

I do believe the Papal bull can ride in the hold with the media bull; as there's no WiFi on the 772 pre-CIP, no bull can be released until the aircraft lands in Rome anyway.

Noticeably absent: the "Popemobile".

8 hours to get from NYC to PHL or WAS to NYC by train? Huh? The Amtrak regionals (ie the slow train) take 1:15-1:30 PHL-NYP, depending on the train.

I assume security and congestion issues are the main reason he's flying rather than using any ground transport. It would be harder to secure a ground route, and the security precautions would probably mess up traffic (whether rail or road) for everyone else something awful.

I think that chartering a train is rather routine; sports teams do it reasonably often on the Northeast Corridor. If the train made more sense for the pope, it certainly could have been arranged.

My guess is that security (along the route/tracks) would have been a problem.

Obviously i was embellishing a little with the 8 hour estimate :)

But sports teams have the luxury of time, the pope doesn't. The vast majority of NFL teams also charter flights from commercial airlines as well. If he really wanted to be extravagant he could have chartered a private jet instead. Nobody here is going to be calling an AA 772 a luxurious travel option.

Pope Francis to Fly AA charter WAS (AAFB)-JFK, JFK-PHL, PHL-FCO
 

http://www.cruxnow.com/church/2015/09/18/fun-facts-and-more-about-life-aboard-the-papal-plane/

Another interesting article. I think the only correction to make is the FAA call signal was officially changed to Shepherd One as indicated.

AA has a planning team working on this for quite some time so everything from the meal service to hosting the reporters (who pay the plane ticket price) has been carefully considered. I know someone is waiting to ask the miles question for the paid tickets.

Rasheed

And in case any of those reporters find this post, perhaps they should consider registering for:

New TATL flight bonus up to 125k miles [NAF15]

The pope is king.

I heard he is flying AA to protest the other two for moral reasons, because they have gone revenue and are stealing the FFM from their poor customers to fatten their wallets. He is not down with that kind of sin. :p

I remember a flyertalk post or news article that the prior Pope had the entire F section of the plane removed and replaced with just one seat. Anyone have a link?

The ground security considerations are indeed probably the driving factor but this pope seems to want to portray himself as the pope of the people (see the Fiat 500L) and champion of the environment. If his schedule had been WAS PHL NYC his longest train ride would have been 1.5 hours. Probably quicker door to door than flying. I'm sure if they had approached Amtrak they could have chartered an accela.

But logistically the plane is probably easier for everyone involved.

Fdw

I agree. ;)

Sports teams do not have the luxury of time at all (except in the NFL). Baseball teams are typically starting their trips after a game ends at around 10 PM (so probably 11 or midnight by the time they pack up and get to the airport, even without TSA hassles), and they want to be in bed as soon as possible. And teams in all four major league sports in the US/Canada certainly have chartered flights. When they take the train, it's because it's faster and more comfortable, not because it's cheaper or they have the luxury of time or they don't have access to a charter plane. But, of course, they don't have the security concerns along the route that the pope does.

I think a chartered AA 772 with about 100 passengers for WAS-NYC-PHL is an awfully luxurious travel option for such a short flight, actually, even for the press corps back in Y. If AA flew such a route commercially, FTers would be salivating!

Being it's not an AA marketed flight, miles should not be expected. Now would AA IT mess up and post them??? Totally different question.

Yep. As an ad hoc charter, I'd expect the passengers on "Shepherd One" :rolleyes: earn as many miles as I did on my AA flight HAV-MIA. None. But apparently they do get to keep the headrest covers with the Papal seal. (Are the passengers referred to as "sheep"? Are they numbered?)

I'm just waiting for the post about him losing his seat at the last minute due to an air marshal.