The Complicated History of The Trump-Vance Campaign Jet
It has ties to ICE because of course it would.
BLUF: A particular Boeing 737-800, registered N917XA at the time of writing, has a storied and diverse history, having changed hands multiple times before becoming a part of the Trump-Vance 2024 campaign.
European Origins
Our journey begins in Germany with the carrier Air Berlin. They were founded in 1979 as Air Berlin USA to take advantage of American access to West Berlin's Tegel Airport. By 1990, following German reunification, the airline had transitioned to a fully German carrier and expanded rapidly throughout the 2000s. Air Berlin placed orders for 112 Boeing 737-800s between 1998 and 2007, of which only 84 were delivered. One of these was the aircraft with MSN 32917, delivered in September 2002 and initially registered as D-ABBF. It was configured like the rest of Air Berlin’s 737-800 fleet, with a 186-seat all-economy layout.
Air Berlin was once Germany's second-largest airline, however, aggressive acquisitions would eventually lead to financial difficulties. Despite a strategic investment by Etihad Airways in 2011, who acquired a majority stake in the struggling airline, Air Berlin (who had a bad habit of investing in or acquiring other airlines) would file for insolvency in August 2017 and cease operations two months later.
Years before closing down, in April 2012, Air Berlin had withdrawn D-ABBF from use. In June of 2012 they leased the plane to Orenburg Airlines or "Orenair," a Russian airline.
Orenair, was officially founded in 1992 but its origins date back to 1932 as the Orenburg Division of Aeroflot. It is unclear when the aircraft, re-registered as VP-BEN, left service with Orenair. However, before the airline re-merged with Aeroflot (which then merged with Rossiya Airlines in 2016) and ceased operations, the aircraft would be acquired by a charter airline based in the United States.
Casino Express
It’s now May 2015 and the aircraft is re-registered as N917XA under the ownership of Xtra Airways. Xtra was a charter airline that had rebranded from its former identity as Casino Express Airlines. Xtra Airways was known for providing charter services to various clients, including sports teams, government agencies, and political campaigns, most notably Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential bid.
Fun Fact Xtra would eventually morph into Avelo Airlines.
During its time with Xtra Airways, N917XA was also leased to Corendon Dutch Airlines in the summer of 2017. Corendon Dutch, a Turkish airline founded in 2004, had established itself as a major player in the charter and leisure travel market, focusing on flights between Europe and popular holiday destinations in the Mediterranean.
ICEy Affairs
After returning from Europe, the aircraft changed hands again to Swift Air in March 2018. Swift Air, another U.S.-based charter airline, would later become iAero Airways. Swift was heavily involved with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) providing flights for the agency’s controversial “deportation airline” known as ICE Air. Ice Air has been scrutinized for many things including operational inefficiencies and data handling issues.
Under Swift Air’s operation, the aircraft was also leased to Smartwings, a Czech low-cost airline, for seasonal operations in 2018 and 2019.
By January 2020, it had returned to iAero Airways’, where it continued to serve until its withdrawal earlier this year on April 6, 2024, where it was stored at Piedmont Triad International Airport (KGSO). By April 14, 2024, iAero had met its demise and its assets became part of Eastern Air Express.
Enter Eastern Air Express and The Present Campaign
Eastern Air Express was previously known as Hillwood Airways and is now part of the revived Eastern Airlines. While they mostly operated 737s they have kept a unique fleet of aircraft throughout their lifetime. At one point they operated a Boeing Business Jet or BBJ (this is Boeing talk for a private jet variant of a Boeing commercial airliner) that used to be registered to the DoD. That particular BBJ, N737AT, is fitted with a large cargo door located on the aircraft's main deck. It is one of the only BBJs equipped with this option.
In April 2024, N917XA was moved to Kansas City International Airport (KMCI) where it was repainted in the Trump-Vance 2024 campaign colors.
After being completed a member of the campaign staff tweeted a photo of the jet outside of some hangars.
At the time many unfamiliar with the world of aviation began to speculate that Trump Force One had been repurposed for by the campaign. I say “those unfamiliar with the world of aviation” because Trump Force One is a Boeing 757 and the plane in question (as you now know) is a 737. While researching for this article I read a report that N917XA was now owned by Trump and cost him $100m, neither of which is true. The jet is still owned by Eastern, specifically Eastern 737 Asset Holding LLC, an LLC that seems to have been set up solely to hold Eastern Express' fleet of 737s. The real cost of the plane (which is mostly irrelevant because the plane is chartered) is more likely to be closer to $20m.
The exact worth and operational costs of the aircraft are points of contention. Additionally, its current configuration remains a subject of speculation with online records showing it to be in a non-VIP setup. What is clear is that the Boeing 737-800, now dressed in the guise of the Trump-Vance campaign, is not just a mere private jet but a commercial airliner with a rich history.
Closing Thoughts
From its beginnings with Air Berlin to its current role in the U.S. political arena, this Boeing 737-800 is now poised to play an often-overlooked role in the 2024 presidential election. Like most of the aircraft I gravitate towards this jet tells a story beyond its fairly mundane function. As it flies the candidates across the United States, it carries on its wings decades of aviation history and the countless stories of those who have traveled (willingly or unwillingly) within its cabin.
I've also published the "rough draft" of this on my Obsidian Publish website, Crystal Peak. It includes all the sources for this article. I’ve also gone through and made pages for some of the mention entities which you can explore at your leisure. Click the button below to get a peak behind the scenes.
To my followers (old & new),
I know it’s been over a year since my last post, I’ve really struggled with finding the motivation to write over the past year. There have been countless articles, profiles, and threads that I’ve started but not finished. I’ve let fear hold me back in many aspects of my life but the one that bothers me the most has been creating content for JANN. Over the past two years my interests have shifted and I was worried that this new aviation focus would be of little interest to people. Well, based on conversations that I’ve had with individuals that I thought would absolutely not want to hear about my weird obsession with shadowy planes helped me see that this wasn’t the case. Yesterday I made a twitter thread covering a recent trip by N226G (I don’t think I’ve mentioned that aircraft on here before but it is related to the whole Gatekeeper story.) I orginally did it as a way to build up some self-efficacy so I could finish this article, but wow did it take off. (Pun not intended but it works)
Most of my tweets barely crack 5 likes and 1k views so this is quite the jump. This thread alone gained me almost 100 new followers (granted a lot of them were probably bots or feds but I digress).
I’ve toyed with the idea of turning on the paid feature but that is a “commitment to yourself and your readers” and I have some growing to do before that happens. I truly appreciate each and every one of your who has influenced this little side project of mine since it’s inception. I look forward to bringing you all more aviation and intelligence related content in the future.
Sincerely,
Frank Tyler