Here’s an interesting article on ABCNews.com on Senator McCain’s new plane, which is specially designed for him to talk with the press:
Attempts to do regular media availabilities on McCain’s previous plane – an Embraer E190 chartered from the airline Jet Blue – lasted only a few weeks. The lighting was poor for camera use, and reporters had a nearly impossible time crowding around the candidate. Half of the press corps couldn’t hear what he was saying and had to wait for their digital audio recorders to be handed back to them at the end of the meeting to even know what McCain had said.
The new plane is set up for such a conversation. Two captain’s chairs sit on either side of a long couch in a cabin near the middle of the plane. McCain will sit in one (a sign reading “John McCain” and “Straight Talk Express” behind his head) and the press will gather onto the long bench to listen to what he has to say. There are microphones and lights, and there’s a place for a camera tripod – a relief to the sore shoulders of McCain’s traveling camera people.