'Operation Hero Miles' Collect Over 203M Air Miles For U.S. Troops
US Airways, Midwest Airlines Join Frequent Flier Troop Donation Program
Greg Ng, Staff Writer
POSTED: 3:54 pm EST December 11,
2003
BALTIMORE -- US Airways and Midwest Airlines are the latest airlines to announce their participation in "Operation Hero Miles."Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-District 2, announced that 88 percent of the domestic airline market has enrolled in the program he initiated to donate airline miles to troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan for rest and relaxation.Ruppersberger's office said travelers and airlines have donated 203 million miles, which translates into 8,100 free tickets available for the troops.
The soldiers who have been granted two weeks of R&R fly into Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Hartsfield International Airport in Atlanta, and Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport in Texas.At the beginning of the program, the Department of Defense required servicemembers to pay their own way to make connecting flights to their hometowns. The Pentagon recently announced, however, that the federal government will pay the servicemembers' entire way home.Among the participating airlines include: AirTran Airways, Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Airlines, Midwest Airlines, Pan Am and Boston-Maine, Southwest Airlines, United Airlines and US Airways.If you would like to donate air miles to Operation Hero Miles, click here.Stay with TheWBALChannel.com and WBAL-TV 11 News for the latest Operation Hero Miles updates.
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