The Biden administration is considering calling on US commercial airlines to provide planes and crews to assist in transporting Afghan refugees once they are evacuated from their country by military aircraft.
The US Transportation Command says in a statement Saturday that the Pentagon has not approved or ordered any activation of commercial airlines as allowed under the Civil Reserve Air Fleet programme, which adds to military aircraft capability during a crisis related to national defence.
However, the Transportation Command said it had issued a warning order to US carriers on Friday night on the possible activation of the programme. The order was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
If called upon under the voluntary programme, commercial airlines would transport evacuees from way stations outside Afghanistan to another country or from Virginia's Dulles International Airport to US military bases.