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I know that flying Air Force One is a position of high responsibility. I am curious to know what extra privileges, if any, come along with being the pilot of Air Force One. What extra he can do which a usual commercial/US Air Force pilot is not allowed to do (in air or on ground both)?

FreeMan
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love gupta
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    Your second question is odd. Why on Earth would women not be allowed to fly Airforce One? – Simon Jul 22 '16 at 07:15
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    @Simon it's not odd at all. Women are still bared from some jobs, especially in some armies. First (USA) female pilot to go to war was in 1998 . If you want to hire the most experienced ones, 20 year might not be enough yet; making it practically impossible as of today for them to pilot AF one . – Antzi Jul 22 '16 at 08:46
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    Please keep in mind that Air Force One is a call sign (specifically, the call sign of the plane that the president of the United States is onboard, whichever that is), not any specific airframe or even aircraft type. As much else as that movie got wrong, this is one thing that the 1997 movie Air Force One actually got right. – user Jul 22 '16 at 08:58
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    We are in the 21th century, the second question is odd. Anyway, I don't believe that combat experience or even war experience is a requirement (that could be a big problem during peace ^^). Anyway, women have a long Air Force history, back from WWII. – Peter Jul 22 '16 at 08:59
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    @Peter "We are in the 21th century, the second question is odd." No, it really isn't. There are many jobs and roles which are considered unacceptable for a woman to take (considered such by some people, anyway), and this is in rare cases a legal restriction as well. The military being responsible for several of those rare cases, it's definitely a reasonable thought to ponder about AF1. – Nij Jul 22 '16 at 09:52
  • @MichaelKjörling. You're right. Also, what about pilots of Executive One? – Marco Sanfilippo Jul 22 '16 at 10:20
  • OK...May be my question sounded odd but many countries still don't allow ladies on war front. Recently India commissioned first batch of women pilot first time in history...I don't knwo about US laws but globally things are different. – love gupta Jul 22 '16 at 10:36
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    AirForce One would never be at the front in a combat role. – Simon Jul 22 '16 at 14:05
  • Related, since AF1 is operated by the military – Pondlife Jul 22 '16 at 15:03
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    @Simon I hope to be an AFO pilot one must be a US Airforce pilot. Correct? And there are many countries who don't allow women to fly the jets. Women are allowed in Airforce but not to fly in many countries. So that was considering global condition. I also don't know if AFO had any lady pilot. – love gupta Jul 22 '16 at 15:19
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    AF1 is the designation when flying on an Air Force aircraft. Marine One is used when flying a Marine-operated aircraft, such as the White House helis. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marine_One – rbp Jul 22 '16 at 19:39
  • Unrelated but nuclear submarine is pretty much all boys club. – vasin1987 Jul 23 '16 at 16:39
  • @vasin1987 not completely – BSteinhurst Jul 24 '16 at 02:30

1 Answers1

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First off the pilot of Air Force One may or may not not be a commercial pilot (in the FAA sense) on account of the plane is operated by the military. For example the previous pilot of AFO Colonel Mark W. Tillman has no listing in the FAA database for pilot certificates so he does not cary any civilian privileges of flight although some might.

Being in the service the pilot would carry all the privileges associated with his given rank at the time.

As for other privileges there would be nothing stopping him from receiving a free meal at a local airport diner or the such but as far as I can find they have no special privileges anywhere.

If you are asking what privileges they may have in the air that is a completely different question. They still must follow ATC procedures as any other plane in civilian airspace but the flight will undoubtably be treated in a certain way.

Dave
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    One special treatment is that they'll be allowed to operate within a presidential TFR ;-) – Pondlife Jul 22 '16 at 13:59
  • I have heard that they clear themselves for take off (by informing the tower controllers). – Lnafziger Jul 22 '16 at 14:25
  • I saw a documentary on discovery covering AFO when Bush flew to Iraq war zone then AFO didn't follow ATC rules (it was due to keep secrecy of mission). But on the same point no other flight can give false info to ATC – love gupta Jul 22 '16 at 15:01
  • In the movie Airforce one ATC clears AFO to take off. Don't know what is the procedure. – love gupta Jul 22 '16 at 15:24
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    The couple of times I've heard AF1 on an ATC frequency, they received clearances like any other aircraft. (The big difference being, they probably *never* had to argue with ATC to get what they wanted!) But if Tower knows that there is traffic a mile off the end of the departure runway, it's probably better for everyone to hold AF1 until the traffic is clear, instead of them blasting off with an attitude of "I'm AF1, I do whatever I please!" Those conflicts are probably really, really rare, but typically AF1 mostly uses the same vocabulary with ATC as the rest of us do. – Ralph J Jul 22 '16 at 17:03
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    @lovegupta In the movie, when Air Force One is being cleared for takeoff, they are also at the Moscow International Airport. Well aside from the fact that what's accepted in the US (due to the fact that the plane is being operated as part of the US Air Force) might not be accepted elsewhere, plain and simple common courtesy and self-preservation instinct would suggest that you ask if it's okay before you get a 375,000 kg MTOW, 70 by 60 meters aircraft even onto a runway. Though compare Can a pilot take off at his own discretion?. – user Jul 22 '16 at 21:00
  • @RalphJ Well, this was in Daytona many years ago, and there are Presidential TFR's, so I'm sure that they would be well aware of any intruders that would be in the area. – Lnafziger Jul 23 '16 at 00:18
  • I believe it's normal for traffic to be completely halted on the ground and kept well clear of the airport while AF1 is moving, so there shouldn't be traffic a mile off the departure. – DJClayworth Dec 17 '17 at 21:01