Civil Reserve Air Fleet: The Impact of 9/11/2001

This research seeks to assess the commercial airline industry's changing view of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) in the aftermath of the terrorist attack of 2011. First, the authors review the history of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet (CRAF) and the National Airlift Policy. They describe the structure and organization of CRAF, what incentives exist to reward participation, and how the incentives are managed. Data is presented, focusing on a 17 month period preceding and following September 11, 2001. A statistical analysis leads to the inference that the terrorist actions did have a significant effect on the willingness of the carriers to participate in the CRAF incentive program.