Fact Sheets
Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System — JPATS
- The U.S. Marshals’ Justice Prisoner and Alien Transportation System,
sometimes called “Con Air,” moves prisoners between judicial districts,
correctional institutions and foreign countries.
- JPATS is one of the largest transporters of prisoners in the world —
handling about 977 requests every day.
- JPATS transports sentenced prisoners who are in the custody of the
Federal Bureau of Prisons to hearings, court appearances and detention
facilities.
- A network of aircraft, cars, vans and buses accomplishes these
coordinated movements.
- Detailed itineraries are required to ensure each prisoner appears in
court at a designated time.
- JPATS operates a fleet of aircraft that moves prisoners over long
distances more economically and with higher security than commercial
airlines.
- JPATS is the only government-operated, regularly scheduled passenger
airline in the nation.
- JPATS routinely serves approximately 70 domestic and international
cities, plus other major cities in the United States on an as-required
basis.
- Nearly all air movements are done aboard large and small jets that
JPATS owns or leases.
- Military and civilian law enforcement agencies are also able to use
JPATS to shuttle their prisoners between different jurisdictions at a
fraction of what commercial sources would charge.
- All scheduling is handled at JPATS headquarters in Kansas City, Mo.
- The air fleet operations center is in Oklahoma City with a hub in
Las Vegas.
JPATS FY 2010 Numbers
- 356,603 federal prisoner movements
- 206,358 movements by air
- 150,245 movements by ground
Office of Public Affairs
U.S. Marshals Service Pub. No. 21-G
revised Feb. 15, 2011 |
