Government aviator: Empty above the clouds

The German government planes repeatedly cause ridicule with breakdowns. If everything goes smoothly, nobody gets upset. There is definitely a reason: the planes are often empty. Why?

A gray Luftwaffe Airbus rolls to a parking position at Berlin’s capital airport BER. It’s early October. The Federal Chancellor is returning from a two-day trip with stops in Spain and the Czech Republic.

For Olaf Scholz and his delegation, the trip ends in Berlin – but not for the crew of the plane. She has to bring the government plane back to where it is based: to Cologne. A so-called deployment flight without passengers is due. There were 242 of these on the Cologne-Berlin and Berlin-Cologne routes in the first six months of this year. The Federal Ministry of Defense’s readiness to fly assumes around 480 flights by the end of the year.

When Bonn was still the capital

“What we are experiencing there is the legacy of a very complicated process,” says Green politician Jürgen Trittin. He alludes to the government move from Bonn to Berlin. It was more than 20 years ago though. Despite this, six federal ministries still have their headquarters in Bonn, including the Ministry of Defence. And the 16 government pilots belong to it. They are still stationed at the military part of Cologne/Bonn Airport.

If the chancellor or a minister goes on a business trip, one of the planes is usually flown to Berlin empty and returns empty to Cologne after the trip. Left parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch calls this situation “unacceptable”. And Green politician Trittin also says: “The government fleet must be stationed where the government is located.” But it is not that easy.

Traveling with “Konrad Adenauer”.

The commander of the flight readiness invites you to an interview in Cologne. Colonel Daniel Draken looks out over the airport’s runway from his office: just below his window is an Airbus A350, the latest addition to the fleet. The long-haul aircraft only became ready to fly in mid-November. “We sometimes call them Air Force One,” says Draken with a smile. It may not be the US President’s machine, but it is technically “up to date” with VIP equipment and the most modern security systems. The machine was christened “Konrad Adenauer”; Chancellor and Federal President will travel by jet.

No place in Berlin

The colonel admits that BER would be the more suitable home airport for the machine. But the airport has not yet been able to do this. There is a lack of hangars and maintenance capacities. The readiness to fly in Berlin should have been as early as 2014, says Draken. However, as is well known, the opening of the new airport was delayed again and again, which meant that the plans for the move were also null and void. There would never have been enough space for the government jets at the old Tegel Airport. Only a few helicopters of the flight readiness are stationed there to this day. The aircraft fleet now comprises 16 machines: another Airbus A350, two older A340s, six medium-haul jets from the A320 family and various smaller aircraft.

They all commute again and again without passengers between Cologne and Berlin. Colonel Draken doesn’t like the term “empty flights”. Each of these flights will be used for training and educational purposes. This also means that pilots fly machines from Cologne to Berlin or back to get their minimum flight hours. That’s 70 a year. If the pilots fly less, they can lose their license. The Ministry of Defense’s flight readiness even tries to ensure that its pilots sit in the cockpit at least 150 hours a year.

Departure at the push of a button

“The justification that pilots also have to fly is not for me,” says Left Party leader Bartsch. In his view, pilots can just as easily be trained in flight simulators. The commander of the flight readiness department contradicts this. Simulator training cannot completely replace training in the real cockpit, says Colonel Draken. He speaks of the high flying skills that his crew need – at the push of a button. Then The federal government’s requests for trips with the flight service often come at short notice.

And usually it doesn’t work on standard routes: exotic destinations with stopovers are often included, and each flight has to be planned individually. Around 300 of the 1,200 employees at the flight readiness service are therefore trained to shift their workplace from their desk to the plane if necessary, i.e. to fly missions.

Pilots at the desk?

This leads to further criticism: The flight readiness has too many expensive staff, who normally sits at the desk, is still paid like a pilot, criticizes left-wing parliamentary group leader Bartsch.

The move of the readiness to fly to Berlin is now planned for 2032. By then, the necessary infrastructure should be in place in the capital. This would also mean the end of the deployment flights between Cologne and Berlin in ten years. Finally, says Green politician Trittin. He refers to the high costs and the ecological aspects.

However, flight readiness commander Draken points out that his flying personnel still need to be trained and educated. If not on flights from Cologne to Berlin – then probably on other routes without other passengers on board.