While US and Russian spies were being swapped on a tarmac, the U.S.A. was represented by a private charter jet. The business of Vision Airlines is typically escape travel, got the contract for this flight. Government business being done by private contractors – not unusual, but some have questioned the choice.
Vision airlines used for the spy swap
It looked more like a spy movie than a vision from 2010, but a Russian Emergency Ministry plane met up with Vision Airlines on a Vienna tarmac this morning. Ten accused Russian agents got on the Russian plane when four “Western sympathizers” got on the Vision Airlines jet. The biggest post-Cold War era spy drama was hopefully over once both planes took off.
How Vision Airlines got the job
The decision to send the Russian agents back home and bring the American agents back to the U.S. on a luxury charter jet is an interesting one. Russia had a much more official way of handling the situation. Was the choice of a luxury jet meant to pamper spies? Was every other plane in the entire United States already taken? It is possible that both the United States and Russia agreed to not use military planes, just in case. Either way, the choice of a luxury charter jet to swap spies is an interesting one. One has to wonder if Vision Airlines donated their $ 10,000 plus fee for this trip, or if the U.S. Government is footing the bill. Donating may have been the smarter choice, as Vision Airlines is getting so much website traffic today that their site keeps going down.
According to Rahm Emanuel’s discussion with PBS’s “NewsHour,” the President was “briefed” on the spy swap decision. The choice to use Vision Airlines instead of military planes, to not make announcements, and to keep the spy swap as low profile as they could all point to a desire to not start a fight. Both countries have said that they really want to try and “warm up” relations.
