Three Private Jets? No Bet!

Maybe we shouldn't be surprised anymore that corporate America is clueless. First there was AIG, with it's lavish conferences, and now the Big Three automakers all fly from Detroit to DC by private jet. For the record, their names are Alan Mulally of Ford, Rick Wagoner of GM, and Robert Nardelli of Chrysler. They want $25 billion dollars of taxpayer money or, as Nardelli told Congress, national security could be compromised. Okay, they either need the government to fork over or their companies will go broke. So what's the logic in flying by private jet at a cost of around $20,000, when a commercial flight costs anywhere fro $228 coach to $837 first class?

Some members of the House Financial Services Committee had legitimate questions about this. Especially since the carmaker CEOs were talking about coming out of their near death experience leaner and more cost efficient. Rep. Gary Ackerman of New York said, "It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo". The automakers, of course, had a defense to all this. They say like many corporations, GM, Ford, and Chrysler require their top executives to fly private for safety reasons. If that's true, why didn't all three fly in one private jet? After all, hat in hand is hat in hand.

GM even had the guts to go on the offensive. "Making a big to do about this when issues vital to the jobs of millions of Americans, blah blah blah blah....." In other words, ignore our free spending, just give us the money. They may not get it, at least not now. Congress goes home today for the Thanksgiving holiday. There's a compromise in the works, but getting it done in one day is way beyond the capacity of lame ducks.

Besides, if the Big Three really had any empathy with the workers they employ, they'd stop trying to quietly scapegoat them as the source of the current car crisis. Labor agreements may need to be reworked, but job one for Detroit is to make vehicles that are more road reliable and get better gas mileage.

So we've got Congress eyeing the exit, carmakers still bleeding green, and the fate of 5 million American workers still on shaky ground. And all three CEOs flew their private jets back to an economically devastated region, no doubt pondering that to do next.
Nice.