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How Many Corporate Jets Are Buried in the Model
Sunday, 31 July 2011 09:57
Begging for public money with private jets to DC. AT&T/SBC is believed to maintain two jets just to take executives to sporting events around the world because ex-CEO Ed Whitacre didn't want to share his jet. BellSouth, now part of AT&T, kept a jet in D.C. just to ferry Congressman home and win their favor.  I'd bet that these expenses are buried in the Big Telco Plan model, probably under SG&A. For $50B companies, it's an insignificant number. But other possibly buried items, like the $10's of billions of underfunded pensions and retiree health benefits, amount to a significant fraction. Without access to the data that went into the model, I can't estimate how big a factor this is.
    I don't believe public money should pay for private jets to the Superbowl.
 
From ABC News, outrage when the automakers did similar.

Big Three CEOs Flew Private Jets to Plead for Public Funds

By BRIAN ROSS (@brianross) and JOSEPH RHEE
November 19, 2008

The CEOs of the big three automakers flew to the nation's capital yesterday in private luxurious jets to make their case to Washington that the auto industry is running out of cash and needs $25 billion in taxpayer money to avoid bankruptcy.

     The CEOs of GM, Ford and Chrysler may have told Congress that they will likely go out of business without a bailout yet that has not stopped them from traveling in style, not even First Class is good enough.All three CEOs - Rick Wagoner of GM, Alan Mulally of Ford, and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler - exercised their perks Tuesday by flying in corporate jets to DC. Wagoner flew in GM's $36 million luxury aircraft to tell members of Congress that the company is burning through cash, asking for $10-12 billion for GM alone.

    "We want to continue the vital role we've played for Americans for the past 100 years, but we can't do it alone," Wagoner told the Senate Banking Committee. While Wagoner testified, his G4 private jet was parked at Dulles airport. It is just one of a fleet of luxury jets owned by GM that continues to ferry executives around the world despite the company's dire financial straits.

     "This is a slap in the face of taxpayers," said Tom Schatz, President of Citizens Against Government Waste. "To come to Washington on a corporate jet, and asking for a hand out is outrageous." more