The United States on Sunday ordered six commercial airlines to help transport people after their evacuation from Afghanistan as Washington sought to step up the pace of departures of Americans and at-risk Afghans from Kabul.
The Pentagon said it called up 18 civilian aircraft from United Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air and others to carry people from temporary locations after they landed from Afghanistan, leaning on the industry it last called upon during the Iraq War in 2003.
The move highlights the difficulty Washington is having in carrying out the evacuations following the Taliban’s swift takeover, marking only the third time the U.S. military has employed civilian aircraft.
Thousands of people remained outside the Kabul international airport on Sunday hoping to be evacuated as Taliban gunmen beat back crowds.
“We need more planes in the mix,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
The aircraft will not fly into Kabul in what Pentagon spokesman John Kirby described as stage 1 of the program, suggesting more commercial aircraft could be activated later.
American Airlines , Atlas Air , Delta Air Lines and privately-held Omni Air would provide three aircraft each, two from Hawaiian Airlines, and four from United Airlines.
American and Delta said they would start relief flights on Monday and, along with other carriers, welcomed the call to aid the U.S. military amid the humanitarian crisis.
