Membership Commitment and Requirements
The airlines contractually pledge aircraft to the various segments of Civil Reserve Air Fleet, ready for activation when needed. To provide incentives for civil carriers to commit aircraft to the Civil Reserve Air Fleet program and to assure the United States of adequate airlift reserves, the government makes peacetime airlift business available to civilian airlines that offer aircraft to the Civil Reserve Air Fleet. Department of Defense offers business through the International Airlift Services. For fiscal year 2005, the guaranteed portion of the contract was $418 million. Air Mobility Command (AMC) previously reported that throughout fiscal 2005 it planned to award more than $1.5 billion in additional business beyond the guaranteed portion of the contract.
To join Civil Reserve Air Fleet, carriers must maintain a minimum commitment of 30 percent of its Civil Reserve Air Fleet capable passenger fleet and 15 percent of its Civil Reserve Air Fleet capable cargo fleet. Aircraft committed must be U.S. registered and carriers must also commit and maintain at least four complete crews for each aircraft.
Carriers with aircraft whose performance does not meet minimum Civil Reserve Air Fleet requirements are issued a certificate of technical ineligibility so they can still compete for government airlift business.
Aviation safety is the paramount concern, and numerous procedures are in effect to ensure that the air carriers with which AMC contracts afford the highest level of safety to Department of Defense passengers. Prior to receiving a contract, all carriers must demonstrate that they have provided substantially equivalent and comparable commercial service for one year before submitting their offer to fly for the Department of Defense. All carriers must be fully certified Federal Aviation Administration carriers and meet the stringent standards of Federal Aviation Regulations pertaining to commercial airlines (Part 121).
A Department of Defense survey team, composed of experienced AMC pilots and skilled aircraft maintenance personnel, performs an on-site inspection of the carriers. This team conducts a comprehensive inspection that includes carrier's aircraft, training facilities, crew qualifications, maintenance procedures, quality control practices and financial status to maximize the likelihood that the carrier would safely perform for Department of Defense. After passing this survey, the carrier is certified by the Commercial Airlift Review Board as DOD-approved before receiving a contract.
AMC analysts then continue to monitor the carrier's safety record, operations and maintenance status, contract performance, financial condition and management initiatives, summarizing significant trends in a comprehensive review every six months. In addition to this in-depth review, there are several other surveillance initiatives. These include safety preflight inspections of commercial aircraft by Department of Defense designated inspectors, periodic cockpit observations on operational flights by highly experienced pilots from AMC's Department of Defense Commercial Airlift Division, and an increase in the frequency of on-site surveys. These initiatives and the surveys are further supplemented by an open flow of information on all contract carriers between AMC and the FAA through established liaison officers.
Read more about this topic: Civil Reserve Air Fleet
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