Airmen fight to reduce flight delays for troops coming home

  • Published
  • By Roger Drinnon
  • Air Mobility Command Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AFPN) --  Airmen of the 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center here recently have eliminated most flight delays resulting from the loss of commercially contracted airlift support to Air Mobility Command from ATA Airlines Inc., a member of a Federal Express team.

"18th Air Force and AMC have pulled out all the stops to remedy flight delays resulting from the loss of ATA," said Maj. Gen. Ronald R. "Ron" Ladnier, the 618th TACC commander. 

"We're working hard to eliminate delays in our system, especially for people returning from deployment," he said. "We've made great progress."

General Ladnier said redeployment flight delays currently have been minimized to only 5 percent of redeploying passengers averaging two days late.

"For example, for the week beginning May 4, we had 7,312 troops redeploying, and of those, about 331 may have experienced a delay of about two days," he said.

General Ladnier said not all redeployment delays are due to the change in commercially contracted airlift.

"Some units and individuals experience delays because they arrive at the staging area early, either by choice or because of the in-theater transportation schedule," General Ladnier said.

Longer delays crept into the redeployment picture in mid-April when ATA Airlines stopped operations after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. The loss of ATA Airlines caused some redeployment flights from U.S. Central Command's area of responsibility to be delayed up to six days.

Members of the 618th TACC, which coordinates flights globally for an average of 450 airlift and air refueling aircraft flying multiple missions each day, drew on all available aircraft immediately to reduce the impact on people serving abroad.

"Our primary concern is to take care of our Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Airmen returning after having served bravely and selflessly fighting the war on terrorism," said Gen. Arthur J. Lichte, the AMC commander. "They are our nation's heroes, and we're working hard to use our available airlifters to bring them home with little or no delay. In fact, in 15 cases when the wait for our contracted support became extended, we diverted AMC C-5 (Galaxy) and C-17 (Globemaster III) cargo aircraft to bring our people home."

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