Pentagon Seeks to Use Foreign Airlines

When the war in Iraq broke out and American troops and equipment were being transported half way across the world to the Middle East, people realized that not all the carriers involved in the transportation were in the US Air Force fleet. Instead, American owned commercial airlines did a large part of the job. Recently, however, the Pentagon announced that it wanted to include foreign airlines into its reserve fleet as well. At a time when debate on domestic employment and especially the outsourcing of American jobs overseas is heated up, this announcement stirred up much contention. The reserve fleet program was authorized in 1951 by Congress and President Harry Truman, and the fleet has been mobilized twice since – the 1991 Persian Gulf war and the recent Iraq war. During this recent conflict, the airlines were paid a total of $1.2 billion to transport troops and equipment, which has been a lifeline for many companies due to last year's fear of war, weakened economy, and SARS. According to experts in the industry, by including foreign airlines into its reserve fleet, the Pentagon can benefit in two major ways: first, competition drives prices down – while currently the Defense Department pays airlines 8.5 cents per seat per mile, some foreign airlines are willing to offer as low as 5 cents; secondly, competition also makes service better – some foreign airlines are willing to fly into conflict zones where American airlines refuse to go.. With these economic motivations, even the government sometimes cannot resist the lures of outsourcing. – YaleGlobal