OTTAWA - The Harper government's plan to decommission four of its six C-144 Challengers was sidelined and revisited last year because the executive jets were getting more VIP and military use than thought.
Former defence minister Peter MacKay, in early 2013, ordered that the majority of the aircraft, long cast as a symbol of Liberal excess by the Conservatives, be retired within the year as they reached the end of their service life.
But newly released memos, dated Nov. 18, 2013, show the plan was scaled back to the deactivation of just two planes — something the government waited until after Parliament recessed in late June to announce.
The Challengers are tasked with shuttling around the prime minister, the governor general and cabinet ministers, as well as being an air ambulance for members of the military.
What the air force found after MacKay issued the order was that it couldn't deliver both with just two planes because there were "multiple scheduling conflicts for Challenger support amongst Code One (Very, Very Important Persons)."
The documents show the air force was quietly asked to study options and based its analysis on the "requirement to maintain the current level of service and availability provided to Code One VVIPs."