GM Giving Up 2 of 5 Private Jets Amid Criticism
November 25, 2008
C-SPAN isn’t exactly known for being the channel to watch when you want a good laugh. But, during the congressional hearings last week with the heads of GM, Chrysler and Ford, viewers were treated to some unexpected and bittersweet hilarity when the Big Three executives got skewered for arriving in Washington D.C. on a private jet. Their expressions during the barrage of questions belied the fact that they didn’t even consider how bad the luxury trips looked in light of the purpose of the hearings.
It’s bad enough that all three head honchos showed absolutely zero humility while begging Congress for a multi-billion dollar bailout. But then, Wagoner simply smirked when the three executives were asked if they planned to sell their private jets and fly back to Detroit via commercial airline. The response the public got from the auto companies afterward was simply that it’s “company policy” for the CEOs to travel on private jets, and that it was a “private matter”.
It was only after getting a verbal whipping from members of Congress that GM announced they’d be giving up their private jets.
From CNN Money:
GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said the auto maker, which leases the planes, had decided to get rid of two of its five remaining jets before this week’s hearings as part of deep cost cutting under way at the company. The company sold two planes in September.
“We understand the symbolic issue of people showing up in Washington in corporate jets,” Wilkinson said. “We’re very sensitive to that.”
All travel at the company is getting cut dramatically as GM, which burned through $6.9 billion in cash in the third quarter, struggled to stay afloat. GM has eliminated half the workers who staff its Detroit-based hangar and planes, Wilkinson said.
“There’s a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying into Washington, D.C., and people coming off them with tin cups in their hands,” Rep. Gary L. Ackerman (D.-N.Y.) said. “It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high-hat and tuxedo.”
It’s pretty sickening to hear that the company considers it a “symbolic issue”. Continuing to revel in such unnecessary excess while asking for a handout isn’t going to garner much sympathy from the taxpaying public.
WTF WWF: World Wildlife Fund Shuttles Funders Around The World in Private Jet
October 22, 2008
The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) has long been known for their dedication to the conservation of species across the world, working hard to ‘protect the future of nature’. The organization has spent the past 45 years working in 100 countries toward preserving the diversity and abundance of life. That’s why it makes absolutely no sense that the WWF is ferrying uber-rich donors around the world on a private jet that will spew tons of carbon into the air during the 25-day journey (which costs a whopping $64,950 per person).
From the WWF website:
Join us on a remarkable 25-day journey by private jet. Touch down in some of the most astonishing places on the planet to see the top wildlife, including gorillas, orangutans, rhinos, lemurs and toucans. Explore natural and cultural treasures in remote areas of South America, the South Pacific, Southeast Asia and Africa.
To reach these remote corners, travel on a specially outfitted private jet that carries 88 passengers. World-class experts – including WWF’s director of species conservation – will provide a series of lectures en route, and a professional staff will be devoted to making your global adventure seamless and memorable.
Come on, WWF. Surely you can secure funding without going against one of your very own goals: “promoting more efficient use of resources and energy and the maximum reduction of pollution.” One is forced to ask, how can you fly people around on a private jet and still use resources efficiently and reduce pollution? You can’t.
The WWF’s website details the plight of endangered animals around the world, and the fact that each year, 25 million acres of forest are slashed and burned. The organization entreats us to help them preserve the natural world, so this whole private jet thing reeks of hypocrisy. Sad, because it undermines all of the good work WWF has done. FAIL!
Poor Diddy Flying Commercial Due to High Gas Prices
September 11, 2008
Okay, people. Now’s the time to get really serious about the energy prices and start doing everything we can to lower them. The situation has gotten so dire, the unthinkable has happened. A great and powerful man has been affected. Despite his fortune, P. Diddy (oh, my bad, he’s just calling himself DIDDY now) has reached a point where he can no longer justify flying in a private jet due to the price of gas. He’s flying commercial, and he’s pissed. After all, why should America hip hop royalty be forced to mingle with us commoners, sitting in first class with regular, non-famous rich people?
He’s so upset, he’s taken to YouTube to express his feelings and beg his ‘Saudi brothers and sisters’ for free oil. Yep.
“Right now, I’m actually – can you believe this? – I’m actually flying commercial. That’s how high gas prices are.”
Let’s all scrape our pennies together and send them to Diddy Douchebag, cause he’s hurting so much that he can no longer afford to fly around in a private jet.
Link [Huffington Post] + [YouTube]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
Jet Sharing: For Celebrities Who Don’t Want to Try Too Hard
May 19, 2008
Gee, it must be hard to be a celebrity. You have to deal with annoyingly adoring fans, are inundated by free stuff at every turn and get flak from us peons about flitting around in private jets. Cause, as we all know, there are so many good reasons why you can’t fly commercial. Like the fact that you’re accompanied by a truckload of baggage and multiple employees who wait on you hand and foot. So, even when you have all these dumb environmentalists telling you it’s really bad for the planet when you fly a private jet, you just aren’t going to stop, no matter what. Well, guess what, your highnesses: now you can share a private jet with other celebs, so you can tell people you’re ‘green’.
Treehugger has it:
If you look at Madonna, her carbon footprint in 2006 was estimated to be 1,018 tons – or 100 times the average British citizen’s. Not only do celebs fly a lot, the more famous they get, the more likely they are to want the convenience and luxury of a private jet. So now you know why Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt never look jet-lagged!
London-based Private Jet Club has launched a service to pair up different jet-setters going to some common cities to reduce their costs and (incidentally) their per-person carbon footprint – and calling it jet pooling. While jet pooling may sound like a ridiculous bit of greenwash, the CO2 load of flying solo in many jets is astronomical, making jet pooling better than nothing.
Sure, it’s better than nothing. I’d much rather hear about, say, all of those LA-based actors flying to Cannes in one private jet than all of them flying separately. So, there’s that. Here’s hoping that some of them will actually do it!
Link [Treehugger] + [Private Jet Club]
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
