FAB received requests from STF ministers for solo jet flights

In the flight records of the Brazilian Air Force (FAB) jets, there are requests for solo flights to ministers of the Federal Supreme Court (STF) – 2 with a forecast for 2 passengers and 13 with a forecast for only 1 passenger. It is as if they were “Aerial Uber”, but paid by the taxpayer. The flights were performed. Among the passengers were ministers Alexandre de Moraes and Luís Roberto Barroso. In May 2020, Minister Dias Tofoli, then president, had already made three solo flights to and from Rio within a week.

As a blog report revealed, on March 9 of this year, these secret round-trip flights to São Paulo appear camouflaged in the Aeronautics flight spreadsheets. They appear as displacements “available to the Ministry of Defense”. At the time, there were only six flights, but now they have become routine, a total of 15 flights in two months. STF ministers allege security issues because they were being harassed at airports after the acts of January 8, when there was the invasion and depredation of the buildings of the Supreme Court, Congress and the Planalto Palace. Protesters were identified and arrested preventively.

The inclusion of Supreme Court ministers among the federal authorities who can use the jets was suggested to the Ministry of Defense by the Minister of Justice, Flávio Dino, at the request of STF ministers. A loophole in Decree 10,267/2020, which regulates the use of these aircraft, was used. Article 2 expressly mentions the authorities that may request air transport in Air Force aircraft: the Vice President of the Republic, the Presidents of the Senate, Chamber and STF, Ministers of State and Commanders of the Armed Forces.

But paragraph 2 says that the Minister of Defense “may authorize the air transport of other authorities, national or foreign”. It is not clear, however, whether these flights would be occasional or permanent. In addition, the solution found lacks transparency. The flights of ministers of the Supreme Court are not identified, as with all other beneficiaries of stewardship. The definitive solution would be the alteration of the presidential decree.

The Ministry of Defense stated to the blog that “it is finalizing studies to detail the use of Air Force aircraft by authorities of the federal government and the Judiciary”. A proposal prepared by the Defense Legal Consultancy has already been forwarded to the Civil House of the Presidency of the Republic.

Flights home on weekends

Flights of STF ministers from Brasília to São Paulo generally take place on Thursdays, around 7 pm. The return takes place on Mondays or Tuesdays in the morning. There is no record of official commitments or events in São Paulo on Fridays or weekends in the agenda of Supreme Court ministers in February and March. They traveled home. But this is a stewardship for the few.

Decree 10,267 establishes that official jets can be used by the authorities of the three branches of government for reasons of medical emergency, travel on business or security. In the case of the Vice President of the Republic and the Presidents of the three branches of government, travel to the place of permanent residence is presumed to be a safety reason for using an Air Force aircraft.

One of the secret flights of ministers from São Paulo to Brasília took place on February 23, at 7:15 am, the day after Ash Wednesday. On Friday, there was another trip from Brasília to São Paulo.

The blog questioned the STF if the flights of the ministers of the house would not be illegal, since, according to the legislation, only the president of the court has this right. He also asked if the other ministers would have used the FAB jets on official missions. There was no response until the report was published.

To the Civil House, the blog asked if there will be any changes in the presidential decree to allow STF ministers to use FAB jets, how these flights will be identified and if the other ministers of the court (besides the president) will be able to use the jets to travel move to the place of their residences in the states, without official agenda. There was no response until the report was published.