That Time When the President Flew Commercial

That Time When the President Flew Commercial

How does the President Usually Travel?

Over any distance greater then what the presidential helicopter, Marine One, can fly, the President will almost always fly on a VC-25 (a modified 747-200), colloquially known as Air Force One (though any aircraft the president is on uses the callsign Air Force One). Sometimes, when the airport the president wants to attend is too small for a 747, or the President wants to fly more under the radar (like President Biden’s trip to Ukraine, where he flew a 757), they’ll take a smaller military jet.


The 1973 Oil Crisis

To understand why the President flew commercial, you have to understand the 1973 Oil Crisis, so yep, that means a little history lesson.

In October of 1973, the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries, which includes major players in the oil industry like Algeria, Saudi Arabia, and Libya, announced a total embargo against countries that supported Israel in that year’s Yom Kippur War, when Egypt and Syria attacked Israel to (unsuccessfully) try and regain the land it lost in the Six-day War.

As a result of the embargo, oil prices shot up nearly 300% in much of the world. Prices in the United States were significantly higher than the global average, worsened by the declining oil production domestically. The Oil Crisis also led to a massive shortage of gasoline, meaning it was very hard and very expensive to fill up your car, and even pricier to gas up an airliner.

The 1973 oil crisis significantly impacted public perceptions of Nixon, adding to the mounting challenges of his presidency. While the oil embargo wasn’t directly caused by Nixon’s actions, it unfolded during his administration and compounded existing economic and political frustration, including 1973’s so called "Nixon Shock,‘’ a series of drastic economic measures taken in an attempt to reduce inflation.


Why Did He Fly Commercial?
Like everything a president does, Nixon's decision to fly on a commercial airline was carefully calculated, striking a balance between practicality and public perception. Presidential Historian Douglas Brinkley explained that Nixon wanted to show the American people that he wasn't going to needlessly burn fuel on Air Force, one, that he wasn't "one of these fat cats spending taxpayer money when oil is so expensive on a vacation (the President flew to Los Angeles to take a trip to his home on San Clemente)." ***
UA55

The day after Christmas in 1973, President Nixon, along with the First Lady, their daughter Trisha, and 22 staffers and security members, boarded a United Airlines Douglas DC-10 at Washington Dulles International Airport, bound for Los Angeles. A Nixon aide carried a suitcase-sized secure communication device on board the plane, so that the President could remain in contact with Washington in the event of an emergency. Because it was a civilian airliners, but the President was onboard, the flight was given the callsign of “Executive One” (EXEC1F, “F” being for "family,‘’ as the Executive callsign is usually reserved for the First Family).

According to reporting at the time, Nixon flying United saved at least 60,000 gallons of jet fuel. The flight was delayed 45 minutes because of poor weather in DC, and they took off at 6:15 PM. Nixon was seated in business class, but spent much of the flight milling about the cabin and taking to passengers, even getting a tour of the cockpit from the flight’s captain. What a lot of people didn’t realize is that Air Force One flew empty to California to pick up Nixon for the return flight, defeating much of the purpose of the trip. It still scored the President publicity points. The trip was positively received, with the New York Times’s John Herbers writing “the extraordinary move of secretly taking a commercial flight was an effort to show that Mr. Nixon was not consuming fuel for his own holiday during the energy crisis. Mr. Warren [White House press secretary] said that no passengers were bumped from their seats to make way for the President’s party, and airline officials confirmed this.”

This was indeed an extraordinary flight. Since then, no president has flown on a commercial airliner, neither had anyone before. President Kennedy did fly commercially between on Thanksgiving Day of 1960. At that time, John F. Kennedy, the President‐elect, flew back to Washington from West Palm Beach, FL, when his wife gave birth prematurely to a boy, but he hadn’t been inaugurated as Commander in Chief yet.


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I read this story a little while back and really wanted to make a post about it but I’m glad you did instead. You did a much better job, seriously interesting read!

Also, Executive One is a really cool callsign. Just saying.

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Really interesting article Mort! Great job!

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I can’t believe EXEC1F was in use back then too. Whenever the First Lady flies to Los Angeles without the POTUS, that’s the callsign they use for the C-32. I’ve seen it at KBUR like four times—always cool!

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Interesting how he decided to do this despite the fact someone could have killed him

I mean nobody knew he was going to do it though

yeah, but at the same time what if there was someone like the guy who started ww1?

he didn’t know the Archduke was coming, but he adjusted

True, but I’m sure there was meticulous planning to prevent that from happening on this flight ;)

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Thank you! It is a very interesting event, I agree. The fact that he did it was all about the image. It’s a little bit like how Presidential candidates go into diners and public places like that a lot. They’re trying to send a message that they’re “with the people,” in places that people congregate. We saw it very prominently in this election cycle, particularly when Trump "worked’’ at a McDonalds and Harris made multiple stops are small businesses across the country.

Very cool

Thank you!

The airline and public was informed very last minute - the New York Times article I read on it said the crew learned only 15 minutes before boarding was to commence. There was also a security team traveling with him, who were almost certainly armed to the teeth. It was before 9/11, but there was still some form of airport security, and it wouldn’t surprise me if the passengers on that particular flight were screened multiple times. Nixon and his entourage were brought to the aircraft in a car and boarded directly from the ramp, so there wasn’t a risk of harm in the terminal.

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Very cool story
Could you please cite your sources?

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Thank you! Yes, here you are:

The HISTORY Channel
The New York Times
The New York Times (2nd Article)
The New York Times (3rd Article)
Foreign Policy.com
Simple Flying
US State Department Office of the Historian
US State Department Office of the Historian (2nd Post)
Britannica
The Bill of Rights Institute

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