President Blah will do almost anything if he thinks it will make him popular. Unfortunately too many people fall for it.

What's the betting that the Blair flight is mysteriously free of the various ills that often befall the EasyRyan Flying Circus? Can't see him and the family mooching around the departure lounge for an hour because the a/c's gone tech, or hasn't got back from Nice yet -- and as for the traditional scrum for seats...

And the modifications to Air Force One don't seem to include ECM, flares, chaff and so on. Or did I miss that bit?

R

Fog, heard the Luftwaffe is trying to sell all but two of their Challengers (Chancellor and SecDef) to save cost. But it seems to be very tricky to get their equipment certified for civilian buyers. Cockpits are made up for military standards only. If you can't use it you end up with a VFR-Jet. Who should by that? :D
Is the British PM entitled to use 146s whenever he wants it, I mean even on "private" occasions?

Just wondering if Tony and tribe will be ferried to the airport in a fleet of Reliant Robins too?

Poor bloke can't win either way one looks at it.

Oh, to be a newspaper editor for a day!

dd

newspapers are only good for one thing-wrapping chips.

KK,

The press moaned last year about Blair twice using the 146's to go on holiday - if you count that as private business. This year he has announced that he is flying Easyjet instead.

The 146s are actually a part of the Queen's flight which are kept at RAF Northolt for flying Royals as well as some senior Government members. I don't think that the aircraft are allocated to any particular person but are kept as a pool (There are 3 146s, 5 HS125s and 3 helos). I also think that the whole flight is supposed to have a dual role as air ambulances and military VIP transport during times of war.

Of course what is not reported in the press is the extra cost to the taxpayer of the additional security required for taking the PM on a scheduled flight and how that compares to just taking the 146 anyway (which will possibly be flying less than its optimum hours from a maintenance viewpoint).

This on top of the military and nuclear command/control issues and the horrifying thought of 'Two Jags' Prescott the deputy PM having his protestor-thumping hands on the Trident missile launch button!

foggy.

[ 20 July 2001: Message edited by: foghorn ]

well if Mr Blair and his families easyjet flight is like the majority of easyjet flights, there will be no easyryan circus, it will be tech free and run on time.

enjoy.

Time for another cynical comment.

The decision to use a commercial line is unlikely to have been taken by Mr Blair. His PR people know what he should do.

Far be it from me to suggest that the family Blair are too far removed from every day life and a round trip on EZY is going to bring them no closer .... :rolleyes:

If our Tone or any of his ministerial colleagues are on company business then it is right and proper that they should use company transport in line with international standards.

If they are of on a private jolly, well opinion may divided on that one.

What is not in doubt is that such use would be defined by the Inland Revenue as a "benefit in kind" and as such would (or should) be subject to income tax.

Now, the tax on a couple of these flights should take care of the fat cat rises these crooks awarded themselves without notice the day after the general election. :mad:

Agree that the TB PR machine is probably the driving force. I can imagine this noble gesture will inconvenience the ordinary punter, e.g. full aircraft sniffer/xray sweep before departure, police vetting of all other pax and crew, restricted selection of onboard lagers if Euan gets there first ;) , etc.

Meandering slightly off-topic, I have to take the bait over the Cabinet pay rise. The timing was perhaps unfortunate, but I still believe that the taxpayer's getting a bargain in comparison to private sector remunerations. Interesting that Bally Heck should bemoan this at a time when his own profession is pushing for similar increases. NOTE that I'm not against this; I'm merely raising an eyebrow...

The only delays I have experienced on EZY have been due to ATC, can we assume that this particular flight will not be delayed?

And what's wrong with our Prime Minister flying on an airline run by the future President of Greece.

Hello. 18 mths ago worked on contract for Braathens Malmo Aviation. Flew Swedish prime minister from Bromma to Malmo. He walked into the flight deck after well dodgy swedish winter approach and congratulated me on the landing. The Chief pilot cleared me for line ops on the spot citing "if it was good enough for the prime minister, it`s good enough for me!" Would this happen here? I wish!

OK just a few questions on Mr Clean's alleged decision to fly his family on EasyJet.

1) will he pay for the flights?
2) will Stelios be shortlisted for MBE or something equivalent in next NY honours list?
3) will the property to be occupied by la famille Blair be owned by friends of Stelios
4) will the family have their own private row on board? with special attention?
5) why the Brit PM should NOT use RAF aircraft and be treated as special (like his European counterparts) is beyond me - this fake attempt to be "one of the people" when he and his wife together get paid more than a 7 figure salary is nonsense!!! This nation has a Prime Minister, he/she and their family are to be safeguarded at all costs and to get in bed with more "champagne socialist" cronies does no-one any service least of all the British people!

:cool:

Bally Heck,
Sorry off topic but...
The "pay rise" that TB and chums awarded themselves was not a pay rise. They had just chosen not to take their full salary for the previous years. The decision to take full salary was not TB's either put the recommendation of the independent salary review body. Purely as a sideline a certain balding chap from Richmond had taken his full salary (same as govt ministers) during his whole tenure.

Slightly off-topic: I wonder why the Queen's Flight hasn't upgraded to RJX's for official travel yet? Looks pretty much improved now, especially in terms of range.

And did you know that the flight crew of Air force one are on 100% oxygen on the quick donning mask from take off to touch down...just in case

If this thread proves anything, it is that Tony Blair is damned if he does, and damned if he doesn't.