The Pentagon has ordered Delta, United, American, and three other commercial airlines to provide 18 planes to help transport Afghan evacuees to Europe and the United States. While some airliners were already volunteering to help, the crush of evacuees and deepening crisis led Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III to activate what’s known as the Civil Reserve Air Fleet to secure 18 planes for flights from Middle East air bases, where thousands of Afghans were brought on military jets after the escape from the Taliban in Kabul. The New York Times reports that activating the fleet—for only the third time since the mechanism was established in 1952—is not likely to affect commercial air traffic.
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