After seeing Stratosphere's toy, carrying the miniature Prime in its cargo bay, I wonder if Stratosphere will be the justification of how the autobots reach Egypt, mentioned by Mr. Orci here (question #2).
I don't think so, if anything we may see the plane itself, but it won't transform, be named, or have any indication its cybertronian.
Agreed. His head design looks slightly like a lift off of Jetfire's anyway, i think hes just a character based of a vehicle in the film like long arm was in the first film.
We know that the Autobots are allied with NEST, a human military group in the film, who definitely have their own non-sentient aircraft capable of transporting a handful of bikes, cars, and trucks. If the Autobots rely on their help throughout the film, that's all the justification needed. A robot with an altmode of a cargo plane is wholly redundant.
