Air Charter Team Announces Its Role in Providing Safe and Secure Private Jets for the 2012 Presidential Candidates

KANSAS CITY, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Most air charter companies would wince at the prospect of orchestrating private aircraft travel for presidential candidates, but not so for Kansas City, Mo.-based Air Charter Team. The company arranges everything—all travel logistics for presidential candidates, United States Secret Service personnel and press. During the 2012 presidential election, it provided air travel for three Republican presidential candidates and the lone Democratic candidate, President Barack Obama. Obama occupied Air Force One; Air Charter Team arranged flights for campaign guests and surrogates.

“It was a pleasure to serve one of the most important clients in the world, again. We hit another high note when we were selected as the only company to provide dedicated airliners for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan.”

“We managed all Democratic presidential candidates travel in the 2004 and 2008 primary and general campaigns,” said Jonathan Tasler, president of Air Charter Team. “It was a pleasure to serve one of the most important clients in the world, again. We hit another high note when we were selected as the only company to provide dedicated airliners for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan.”

A McDonnell Douglas MD83 was sourced and customized for Romney; a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 was constructed for Ryan. Each aircraft, tailored to campaign specifications, met the needs of the campaign team, Secret Service and press. Outfitted with a one-of-a-kind paint scheme, custom seat configurations, aesthetic elements and wireless Internet, these aircraft became home away from home for Romney and Ryan.

Romney’s customized MD83 had 99 seats; 30, reclining club-seat configurations with worktables in the first-class section and 69 coach seats in the aft section of the airliner. In a 35-day marathon—not including pre-engineering design—both Romney’s and Ryan’s aircraft was stripped, newly constructed and delivered in Lakeland, Fla., during the Republican National Convention. Additionally, Air Charter Team arranged four separate flights to move Secret Service personnel from Florida to North Carolina, for the Democratic National Convention. Without a snag, the company successfully transported nearly 600 agents and numerous containers of oversized equipment.

Year-end 2012, Air Charter Team utilized 226 unique aircraft, logging more than 1,450 flight hours, visiting 46 states and numerous foreign countries, with roughly 95 percent of private jet flights procured for political leaders. The company is also a contractor to the federal government under a GSA schedule 599-5, #GS-33F-0009V.