American flies the Pope

In the wall-to-wall news coverage of Pope Francis’ visit to the United States this week, Tarrant County residents may have noticed his travels with hometown pride.

The pope arrived in Washington, D.C., Monday on an Alitalia plane, but the rest of his travel, including heading back to Rome on Sunday, will be aboard Fort Worth-based American Airlines.

After addressing Congress and taking part in other activities in Washington on Thursday, he left suburban Maryland on an American 777 bound for New York. He’s scheduled to address the U.N. General Assembly on Friday before flying over to Philadelphia on Saturday.

The Associated Press reported that the plane’s pilot and crew were selected from American’s nationwide employee base. And while the pope is aboard, the 777 will be known as Shepherd One.

Both American and TWA, which American took over in 2001, have flown papal flights before, the most recent in 1999 when TWA flew Pope John Paul II from St. Louis to Rome. In 1993, Pope John Paul II flew in an American plane from Denver to Rome.

Maybe Francis will come again.

This story was originally published September 24, 2015 at 5:56 PM with the headline "American flies the Pope."