(Photo : Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)
Air Force One carrying then-President Donald Trump takes off from Scotland in July 2018. Stealing has gotten so out of hand on the presidential aircraft that the president of the White House Correspondents' Association has reminded reporters that taking items from the plane is not allowed.
Think of it as Air Filch One.
Journalists and others flying on the president's official aircraft have been helping themselves to engraved whiskey and wine glasses, and any objects bearing the Air Force One insignia, then boasting about their take on social media, Politico reported.
The thievery has been going on for years, the report said.
"On my first flight, the person next to me was like, 'You should take that glass,'" a White House reporter told West Wing Playbook. "They were like: 'Everyone does it.'"
Reporters told Politico that members of the media are not the only ones who can't resist the itch to pinch a coveted souvenir.
They recalled a senator who took "everything not bolted down," and others described attending dinner parties at a former White House correspondent's home where the food was served on gold-rimmed Air Force One plates.
The report said the looting on the two customized Boeing 747-200Bs that ferry the president and the press corps to destinations around the world has become a "rite of passage" despite the aircraft being "among the most heavily secured entities in the world."
But the pilfering has gotten so bad that Kelly O'Donnell, the president of the White House Correspondents' Association, reminded colleagues that removing objects off the plane is taboo and doesn't reflect well on members of the media.
O'Donnell's email to colleagues was sparked by an incident that occured in February during a West Coast trip.
The plane's crew that serves passengers on the flight did an inventory after the trip and found that a number of items were missing from the press cabin.
The White House contacted all the reporters on the trip, not to accuse them of theft, but to remind them that it needs to stop.
"It was like, 'Hey, if you inadvertently wound up taking something off the plane by mistake, we can help facilitate a quiet return,'" the email said, reporters told Politico.
O'Donnell's note to White House correspondents reminded them that the Air Force One items are available for purchase.
"But the glasses that are sold on the [Air Force] site aren't the same as the ones they have on the plane," one former administration official said. "Same with the blankets. That's why the ones on board are so coveted."
