Air Force One: A Strategic Plus For The President

WASHINGTON - Air Force One has long been one of the presidency's most impressive symbols.

It also provides a tangible partisan advantage to the White House incumbent and his party, and - with the inauguration of two new Boeing 747s last year - an expensive one.

When President Bush flies to a political event, his campaign reimburses the Treasury only a fraction of what it costs to operate the specially configured and equipped 747s.

That amount is usually the equivalent of first-class airfare for each passenger deemed "political," a formula prescribed by federal regulation.

According to Pentagon figures, the new Air Force Ones cost about $42,000 an hour to fly and maintain in fiscal 1991; this year, the hourly rate dropped to just under $26,000 an hour.

This is because lower-than-expected initial costs enabled the Air Force to renegotiate its maintenance contract in October, a Pentagon spokesman said.

For official trips, even those with patently political overtones, the Bush campaign pays nothing.

For example, the president took Air Force One to Texas recently so he could sign a transportation bill at a construction site and give a speech declaring the economy his number one priority.

At $26,000 per flying hour, the trip cost at least $125,000 - not including the expense of the advance team and backup and cargo planes that often accompany presidential trips.

A big chunk of the Air Force One expense is unavoidable, including security and communications requirements that the president needs whenever he travels.

There also are fixed costs for maintaining the planes, whether they fly or not.

Bush's challengers, by contrast, must fend for themselves.

In the primary campaign season, they often use corporate planes, flying at the same first-class rate that Bush's campaign pays.

But later, the nominee inevitably must charter jets, at a much higher cost, defraying some of the expense by collecting fares from any news organizations that accompany them.

The Pentagon recently released budget figures for the two 747s in the Air Force One fleet, three months after The Washington Post submitted a written request for the information.

The White House press office did not respond to repeated requests over the past several months to answer questions on the subject.

James McKinney, who ran the White House military office during the Reagan administration, said his staff computed a charge for every use of equipment by the 1988 Bush-Quayle campaign - "down to the TelePrompTer and podium," he said.

Such fees can be sizable.

The Bush-Quayle campaign paid an average of $1,700 per stop and $2,300 on an overnight stay for use of the White House Communications Agency, said Sharon Snyder, a spokeswoman for the Federal Elections Commission.

For example, when Bush made fund-raising trips to Utah, Oregon and California in September, it cost more than $600,000 to fly Air Force One on the three-day swing, based on the Pentagon's figures.

The trip also included a speech at the Grand Canyon, visits to a medical center in Salt Lake City and a construction site in Los Angeles, and a speech to a Hispanic group in Chicago.

The total cost of the trip was probably twice as much.

The other 747 came along as a backup; a cargo plane was used to ferry Bush's limousine. Bush's helicopter also made the trip.

Republican National Committee chief of staff Mary Matalin said the committee keeps deposits in a non-interest-bearing account and pays bills as the White House presents them without questioning the charges.

RNC payments to the Treasury for Air Force One, airlift support and communications expenses are not itemized by trip, so the amount charged to any particular campaign cannot be determined.

The president made a personal fund-raising trip to Houston and Dallas Oct. 31 to Nov. 1. No deposits from the 1992 Bush-Quayle campaign appear in the RNC's October or November reports, however.

The White House did not respond to questions about reimbursement for the trip.

That trip aboard Air Force One cost more than $150,000, not counting any advance, backup or cargo planes. The first-class round-trip air fare to Houston is $1,430.