FAA Grants Santa Claus Special Flight and Launch Permissions

Ho, ho, ho…

The Federal Aviation Administration has granted Santa Claus and his reindeer-powered sleigh special operating authority to engage in interstate air-cargo-delivery services directly to rooftops throughout the United States on Christmas Eve.

In addition, for the first time ever, the FAA issued Santa a special commercial space license for a crewed mission to the International Space Station using his StarSleigh-1 space capsule powered by the Rudolph Rocket. The mission license includes both launch and reentry operations and will occur from a U.S.-based spaceport.

Santa knows this Christmas is different from other years and agrees with the FAA decision to give priority to flights carrying COVID-19 vaccines and other cargo critical to the nation’s response to the ongoing public health emergency that was made worse by a naughty and decidedly not nice Republa-Grinch group. Follow Santa’s progress as he travels across the U.S. by visiting the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) website, where NORAD tracks Santa’s Christmas Eve voyage.

With the help of a flight plan that takes advantage of simplified air routes and NextGen satellite navigation, Santa is confident he will deliver all his gifts by Christmas morning as he has done for centuries. In addition, Santa has informed the FAA he will FlyHealthy during his journey by wearing a face mask on his flight to set a good example for everyone who is traveling by air this holiday season.