Boehner would do well to curb his use of the plane, and not use it to ferry around his family. But avoiding it altogether is not a good idea.
commercial Air flight is safe. Just ask the TSA. I have a hard time paying for a private jet for the speaker of the house. With the exception of the President they should all fly commercial. And they should have to go through the TSA lines.
I forget all the details, but Speaker Hastert indeed flew private due to 9/11 changes. Nancy upgraded to a large jet because she had to fly ‘all the way’ to the west coast and needed enough fuel to avoid stopping. Her cost for travel went up many multiples for this reason and this caused a stink.
Yes, the Air Force jet for the Speaker is in fact a post-9/11 police for the person who is third in line for the Presidency. And for a while, it was a sound idea.
As someone pointed out previously, Pelosi “required” a larger jet so that she could get home to her constituency in SF without refueling. In fact, she abused the privilege so badly that I for one am ready to say that if air travel is safe for the rest of us, it’s safe for the Speaker, whichever party s/he belongs to.