I f you travel frequently, you have probably encountered delays in your travel caused by politicians — especially those who are either president or vice president of the United States, as whenever they visit a location via airplane such as the Boeing 747-200B aircraft known as Air Force One, an airport can potentially experience lengthy delays or shut down completely temporarily as a result. That can be understandable, as when the president or vice president need to conduct important official business, minimizing delays and other irregular operations or anomalies are typically in the best interests of the United States and can ensure that objectives get the necessary attention in order to be completed properly…
…but for some reason — while I was reading this discussion on FlyerTalk — I thought about those times when that “official business” is primarily campaigning either for themselves or for other politicians for an upcoming election; and as you may already know, election season is in full swing for the next president of the United States.
My last delay which was caused by a national election was last year when I waited for four hours to cross the border from South Africa into Lesotho; but that was supposedly due to people who are citizens of Lesotho returning to their country in order to be able to vote — which apparently overwhelmed the border crossings — and not because of a politician.
If you will permit me to go off topic for a moment, did you know that a company owned by a Saudi investor works aboard Air Force One — shown in the photograph at the top of this article — and other VIP aircraft which fly Cabinet secretaries and other dignitaries around the world? According to this article written by Tom Vanden Brook of USA TODAY, “This is the first time the Pentagon has acknowledged that a contractor from a business with foreign ties has worked on Air Force One.”
Is Campaigning a Valid Reason to Interrupt Your Travel?
What are your thoughts about your travel — as well as the travel of fellow passengers — being interrupted specifically due to a politician who is on the campaign trail or is at a fundraiser in support of someone else to be elected to office? Do you consider that to be official business worthy of your travel being delayed or cancelled?
Your answer to the question does not have to pertain specifically to the United States — rather, any territory which exists in the world could be a part of your answer; and if you have personally experienced the interruption of your travels due to campaigning, please share your story in the Comments section below.
Source: The White House of the United States.
