WASHINGTON – Biden administration plans to dramatically lift airlift from Kabul by making preparations to force major US airlines to help transport tens of thousands of people evacuated from Afghanistan, while expanding numbers of U.S. military bases that could house Afghans.
The White House is expected to consider activating the Civil Reserve Air Fleet, or CRAF, created in 1952 following the Berlin Air Bridge after World War II, to provide about 20 commercial aircraft of up to five airlines to increase. U.S. military efforts to transport Afghan evacuees from bases in the region, according to U.S. officials.
Civilian planes would not fly in or out of Kabul, which fell under Taliban rule on Aug. 15, officials said. Instead, pilots and crews of commercial airlines would help tranship the thousands of Afghans and others who are trapped at U.S. bases in Qatar, Bahrain and Germany.
The involvement of commercial aircraft would ease the pressure on these bases, which are rapidly filling with Afghan evacuees as the U.S. expands efforts to get them out of Kabul airport. Thousands of Afghans at risk of Taliban retaliation over their association with U.S. forces flooded the airport last week.
The U.S. Transportation Command, which is part of the military, has provided an initial notification to airlines that they could be told to implement the reserve fleet, U.S. officials said. White House, Pentagon, and Commerce officials had not yet issued final approvals for its use, and alternative options could still be instituted, officials said. The possible use of CRAF has not been previously reported.