After breakdowns, more German ministers to fly commercial
Alexander Pearson
March 8, 2019
You might be seeing more of Germany's relatively lesser-known international ministers on your next long-haul flight. The head of the Development Ministry isn't too happy about losing his access to the government fleet.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/R.Jensen
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Fewer German Cabinet ministers will have the opportunity to travel on one of the government's official "White Fleet" aircraft, a German magazine reported Friday.
The Defense Ministry plans to reserve the airplanes for the chancellor, vice-chancellor, president, interior minister and foreign minister, according to a document seen by Der Spiegel. The German air force later confirmed the details of the magazine's report.
The document also proposes making a second aircraft and replacement crew available for any of Chancellor Angela Merkel or President Frank-Walter Steinmeier's flights.
Due to their lower priority, other ministers in Merkel's Cabinet will often need to travel on commercial aircraft, according to the document.
The move is a response to a string of embarrassing aircraft breakdowns in recent months that left Merkel and several other ministers stranded.
Grounded: Problems with Germany's government planes
Germany's government Airbus planes have experienced several issues over the past few months. The latest difficulty prevented Chancellor Angela Merkel from showing up on time for the G20 summit in Argentina.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. von Jutrczenka
Late to G20 summit
While en route to a G20 summit in Buenos Aires in November 2018, the A340-300 "Konrad Adenauer" carrying German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz had to make an unexpected landing at the Cologne/Bonn Airport. Merkel showed up late to the conference in the Argentinian capital.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/O. Berg
Rodents? You're kidding right?
It was the second consecutive month in which the "Konrad Adenauer" needed to be grounded. The A340 also left Scholz stranded in Indonesia following a meeting of the International Monetary Fund in October 2018 after rodents gnawed through electric cables.
Image: Imago/photothek
Trouble in Africa
The "Konrad Adenauer" isn't the only Airbus belonging to the German government that has experienced problems. The A340 "Theodor Heuss" jet carrying German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier experienced technical problems during his trip to several countries in Africa.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. von Jutrczenka
Tell them I'll be late
Steinmeier also had his fair share of woes with the "Konrad Adenauer" jet. The German president's trip to Belarus in June 2018 was delayed due to problems with the plane's hydraulic system.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/J. Carstensen
Pressure starts to tell
German Development Minister Gerd Müller's schedule was thrown into chaos when he was forced to cancel a visit to Namibia in January 2018 — because of plane trouble. Müller was scheduled to depart Malawi when his Bombardier Global 5000 was unable to take off due to a defective pressure valve. He was eventually able to continue on to Zambia on a commercial flight.
Image: imago/U. Grabowsky
I hear it's snowing at home
German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier was grounded in Ethiopia yet again when the "Theodore Heuss" was unable to embark on its return flight due to an air pressure problem. The delay would seem to put Steinmeier ahead of Olaf Scholz for the title of German official most often stranded due to technical problems.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. Pedersen
Foreign minister stranded in Mali
On February 28, 2019, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas was forced to stay overnight in the capital of Mali, Bamako, after his government plane had a mechanical problem. Maas strugged off the delay, saying he had traveled all over the world without a problem.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Hirschberger
The "Konrad Adenauer" strikes back with a burst tire
On April 1, 2019, the "Konrad Adenauer" hit back after a four-month overhaul. The ageing Airbus behaved badly on its first outing after its forced hiatus. Foreign Minister Heiko Maas was on board when one of the tire's burst upon landing in New York. The plane had to be towed to a parking space, with the delay forcing Maas to miss an appointment at the UN Security Council.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/R. Hirschberger
Crash landing
Also in April 2019, a Bombardier Global 5000 was severely damaged in an emergency landing after problems during a test flight. Pilots lost control of the plane shortly after take off and when attempting to land, where it jolted off the runway. The flight was a test flight after weeks of maintenance on the aircraft.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Russ
Maas delayed again
In May, Foreign Minister Heiko Maas was delayed for a third time after engine trouble struck the Bundeswehr A321 he was travelling on for his first trip to Bulgaria. The plane's pilot blamed the failure of an auxiliary turbine, which supplies compressed air to the plane's engines, for the tardiness.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/B. von Jutrczenka
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In February, Maas got stuck in Mali when technical problems affected his government Airbus A319. Merkel showed up late to a G20 meeting in Argentina in November after her A340-300 was forced to make an unexpected landing in western Germany shortly after it took off from Berlin.
But not everyone in the Cabinet is happy with the Defense Ministry's plans.
"In order to fulfill my obligations in approximately 80 partner countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America, it is quite difficult, and in some cases not even possible, to fly on commercial aircraft," International Development Minister Gerd Müller told Der Spiegel.
Müller said he had to limit a recent South America trip to Mexico because he traveled on a commercial flight. The minister had also planned to visit Brazil, Haiti, Colombia and Ecuador during the trip.
The Defense Ministry also plans to tackle repeated breakdowns by buying three new Airbus A350s to replace the existing fleet of long-distance Airbus aircraft.