Summary
- The Trump campaign, after unveiling James David Vance as Trump’s running mate, also unveiled a Boeing 737-800 that Vance would use during the election campaign.
- The Boeing 737-800 was previously owned by the now-defunct iAero Airways, with Eastern Air Express, a subsidiary of Eastern Airlines, now operating the aircraft.
- The aircraft took a brief test flight on July 14.
After Donal Trump, the candidate to become the United States President, unveiled his running mate, James David Vance, the campaign also unveiled a private Boeing 737-800 to be used for the latter’s election efforts.
Boeing 737-800 to be used for the Trump campaign
Senior advisor to Trump, Jason Miller, tweeted two pictures of the Boeing 737-800, including a picture of ‘TRUMP’ and ‘VANCE’ decals that were being applied to the fuselage of the aircraft.
In a follow-up tweet, Miller showed the full aircraft in its new livery, which was themed around the election campaign, including a US flag on the tail of the aircraft, as well as the ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan on the side of the fuselage.
While neither pictures revealed the registration of the aircraft, according to planespotters.net, the narrowbody jet was registered as N917XA and belonged to Eastern Air Express, a subsidiary of Eastern Airlines.
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Ex-iAero Airways aircraft
Meanwhile, ch-aviation data showed that the aircraft previously belonged to iAero Airways, which was a charter airline that ceased operations in April. Eastern Airlines has previously stated that it would take over the assets of the now-defunct airline shortly after.
The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) registry data showed that the official owner of the aircraft was a Kansas, Missouri-based company, Eastern 737 Asset Holdings, which was probably a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to purchase ex-iAero Airways assets.
Planespotters.net indicated that in March and early April, Eastern Air Express took delivery of 19 iAero Airways Boeing 737s, which included converted freigthers and passenger aircraft.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
The Trump/Vance 737-800 was configured in an all-economy configuration of 189 seats. Whether the aircraft will keep that configuration as Vance travels the country campaigning remains unclear.
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Departing on a test flight
The 737-800 departed on a brief test flight using the flight code ‘BBQ2024’ on July 14 from Kansas City International Airport (KCI), filing its destination as Minneapolis Saint Paul International Airport (MSP).
However, after spending less than an hour in the air, the narrowbody aircraft returned to MCI. Flightradar24 records showed that the aircraft’s previous flight was on April 14, when the aircraft arrived at MCI from Greensboro Piedmont Triad International Airport (GSO).
Trump unveiled Vance as his running mate at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on July 15, where the former was first nominated as the formal presidential candidate for the Republican Party, followed by the latter being unveiled as his running mate.
Photo: Markus Mainka | Shutterstock
Donald Trump has his own private jet, a Boeing 757-200, registered as N757AF. The 33-year-old aircraft ferried the candidate, who had tried to overturn the previous presidential election, after a shooter attempted to assassinate Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania, US.
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