Pope Francis
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Pope Francis will fly American Airlines while in the U.S.

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September 22, 2015 at 6:03 p.m. EDT
Pope Francis will fly an American Airlines 777-200 that has been chartered by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. (Michael Rosenwald — The Washington Post)

American Airlines will be responsible for transporting Pope Francis during his travels in the U.S., airline officials announced Tuesday.

After wrapping up events in D.C., Pope Francis will take an American Airlines charter from Joint Base Andrews to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. He also will fly American from Kennedy Airport to Philadelphia, and then from Philadelphia to back to Rome.

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The plane is a 777-200 and its FAA-approved call sign will be Shepherd One.  The plane was chartered by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The Pope flew from Cuba to Joint Base Andrews aboard Alitlia, the national airline of Italy.

Here is Pope Francis’ public  flight schedule:

  Sept. 24: Andrews Air Force Base (ADW) to New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK)

    • ADW: Depart at 4 p.m.
    • JFK Arrive at 5 p.m.
  •  Sept. 26: JFK to Philadelphia International Airport (PHL)
    • JFK: Depart at 8:40 a.m.
    • PHL: Arrive at 9:30 a.m.
  •  Sept. 27: PHL to Ciampino–G. B. Pastine International Airport (CIA)
    • PHL: Depart at 8 p.m.
    • Arrive Mon., Sept. 28

American Airlines spokesman Ross Feinstein said teams from the airline have been preparing for the papal flight for nearly a year. The crew of Shepherd One includes pilots, flight attendants, aviation maintenance technicians, charter coordinators, corporate security representatives and the airline’s operations team. They are based out of a variety of locations including Miami, Dallas/Fort Worth, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Tulsa and Raleigh/Durham.

Here is a list of other instances where a pope have traveled via American:

  • 1999: TWA: STL-Rome (Pope John Paul II) – 767-300
  • 1995: TWA: EWR-BWI-Rome (Pope John Paul II) – 767-300
  • 1993: American Airlines: DEN-Rome (Pope John Paul II) – 767-300ER
    • This aircraft is still in service today. (Flying MIA-MVD this evening.)
  • 1987: TWA: Eleven-day, nine-city tour (Pope John Paul II) – 727 & 747
  • 1979: TWA: Six-day, six-city tour and ADW back to Rome (Pope John Paul II) – 727
  • 1965: TWA: Rome-JFK-Rome (Pope Paul VI) – 707
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