Oh, for a Flight Without Wings

But for passengers on Air Force Two -- a label technically reserved for vice presidential flights but now used generally to describe the fleet that carries Cabinet secretaries as well -- the issues are not just menus and food quality.

For all the history and glamour of trips with the secretary of state, they are often meal-deprived, grouse senior State Department officials. Meals have increasingly become budget-conscious -- rather than body-smart -- in a time of huge federal deficits.

On Rice's tour of Central Asia in October, we began in Kyrgyzstan, flew to Afghanistan, made a stop in Pakistan to view the earthquake damage, and ended up in Kazakhstan's new capital in the Siberian steppes -- a swath of territory ranging from teeming hot to almost freezing. The plane arrived shortly before midnight -- and most still had to work. Long day, limited food.

And almost a mutiny. The meal served en route from Pakistan was a tuna finger sandwich with a small plastic cup of celery and carrots, a meal added only after a protest by a member of Rice's staff who saw the original plan -- for nothing.

State Department trips are always grueling. In November, a Rice trip went around the world -- Europe, the Middle East and the Far East -- in a week. Three or four hours sleep can be a good night. Rice's staff and the press corps were in the same clothes for three days. America's chief diplomat decided to continue negotiating in Jerusalem all night and not leave for another day -- after the baggage had been loaded on her plane. When she finally left, she flew two more long flights to Korea and arrived in time for meetings on the third day. Or was it the fourth, given ever-changing time zones?

Bottom line: Nourishment counts. It's about the only thing that keeps us going. The Air Force counters that the State Department selects meals based on Air Force menus -- and the quantity of food.

Sometimes there's little sensitivity to allergies, religious restrictions or vegetarians. A trip this March became famous as the "all-pork tour of Asia" -- with a Muslim and an observant Jew on board. On one leg, all three meals had pork products, with two variations for breakfast.

It's not that the staff doesn't try -- or that decent meals aren't possible. Air Force crews are sometimes quite imaginative.

On Rice's first trip to Iraq this spring, she took a small jet with a tiny galley. The crew pulled out a George Foreman grill stowed in a closet to cook meals of salmon and beef. "It was the best food I've had on any plane," said the AP's Gearan, a veteran of both White House and State Department trips.

As a vegetarian, I've learned to bring a lot of my own food. But that can backfire. On one trip with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, I brought a container of low-fat cottage cheese. I always hand my bag of food to one of the stewards when I board; usually they remember what's mine. But on this tour, Albright wanted lighter fare -- and one of the crew found my unmarked cottage cheese in the fridge.

Now I keep a jar of peanut butter in my computer case.

-- Robin Wright