Reuters: US military deportation flight likely cost more than first class
WASHINGTON, Jan 30 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump's military deportation flight to Guatemala on Monday likely cost at least $4,675 per migrant, according to data provided by U.S. and Guatemalan officials.
That is more than five times the $853 cost of a one-way first class ticket on American Airlines from El Paso, Texas, the departure point for the flight, according to a review of publicly available airfares.
It is also significantly higher than the cost of a commercial charter flight by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Trump launched the military deportation flights last week as part of his national emergency declaration on immigration, so far sending six planeloads of migrants on flights to Latin America.
Only four have landed, all of them in Guatemala, after Colombia refused to let two U.S. C-17 cargo aircraft land and instead sent its own planes to collect migrants following a standoff with Trump.
A U.S. official, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, estimated the cost to operate a C-17 military transport aircraft is $28,500 per hour. The flight back and forth to Guatemala, not including time on the ground or any operations to prepare the flight for takeoff, took about 10-1/2 hours in the air to complete, the official said.