Let them fly coach

House Orders Up Three Elite Jets

Excerpt:

Last year, lawmakers excoriated the CEOs of the Big Three automakers for traveling to Washington, D.C., by private jet to attend a hearing about a possible bailout of their companies.

But apparently Congress is not philosophically averse to private air travel: At the end of July, the House approved nearly $200 million for the Air Force to buy three elite Gulfstream jets for ferrying top government officials and Members of Congress.

The Air Force had asked for one Gulfstream 550 jet (price tag: about $65 million) as part of an ongoing upgrade of its passenger air service.

But the House Appropriations Committee, at its own initiative, added to the 2010 Defense appropriations bill another $132 million for two more airplanes and specified that they be assigned to the D.C.-area units that carry Members of Congress, military brass and top government officials.

Because the Appropriations Committee viewed the additional aircraft as an expansion of an existing Defense Department program, it did not treat the money for two more planes as an earmark, and the legislation does not disclose which Member had requested the additional money.

An Appropriations Committee staffer said the military was already planning to replace its passenger fleet, and the committee “looked at the request and decided they should speed up the replacement.”

The Gulfstream G550 is a luxury business jet, which the company advertises as featuring long-range flight capacity that “easily links Washington, D.C., with Dubai, London with Singapore and Tokyo with Paris.” The company’s promotional materials say, “The cabin aboard the G550 combines productivity with exceptional comfort. It features up to four distinct living areas, three temperature zones, a choice of 12 floor plan configurations with seating for up to 18 passengers.”

Congress Members Criticize Auto Executives’ Corporate Jet Travel (November 2008)

Excerpt:

One member of the House Financial Services Committee asked the chief executives of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC on Wednesday to raise their hands if they were willing to give up their company planes as they pleaded with the committee for a $25 billion bailout. None did.

The symbolism of the perk was potent to several congressmen, who said their constituents would be aghast at the privilege in such troubled economic times.

“It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in a high hat and tuxedo,” Rep. Gary Ackerman (D., N.Y.) told the gathered executives. “Couldn’t you have downgraded to first class or something, or jet-pooled or something to get here?”

Others questioned whether GM’s Rick Wagoner, Ford’s Alan Mulally and Chrysler’s Robert Nardelli were fully committed to the transformation of their struggling businesses if they were unwilling or unable to see how disturbed taxpayers would be by what they called a powerful sign of corporate extravagance. ABC News also picked up on the subject with an investigative news report.

Comment: Let them fly coach ... like the rest of us!