Saturday, November 22, 2008

The Private Jets and the Detroit CEOs

Argument A: Are those guys crazy? Do they know how that appears? They're asking for a bail-out and they fly in on corporate jets! What's wrong with flying coach or even first class? Where are their PR advisors?

Argument B: Are the critics crazy? Wouldn't they have been the first to blast these execs for their condescension and hypocrisy if, for the first time in years, they suddenly flew commercial? When an organization is in trouble, does it make sense for the execs to squander time at the airport? Why not focus on what's truly important?

3 comments:

Kurt Harden said...

My problem with this is the same problem I have with AIG and their corporate trips.
Stay private and I could care less.
Ask for public money and you are no longer provate. You have opened the door to a different type of scrutiny. Yet another reason to oppose bailouts.

Dan McCarthy said...

Michael -
Good point. It was a cheap shot, but they did bring it on themselves.
I said something similar the other day, and a colleague said to me, “well, maybe they shouldn’t have had the damn jets in the first place”. It’s such a common practice, we’ve come to accept it… but should we?
Here's our Chairman’s policy on private planes: If you want a private plane, buy one yourself.

DarkoV said...

I think if the Begggers-Can't-Be-Choosers had all come on one corporate plane, the dust up would not have been as vitriolic. By taking seperate private jets they were stating that their time was more valuable than our (the taxpayer's) time.

Chapter 11, I say. Call their bluff and also re-align contracts and payments to reflect the modern times, not the times when the Big Three ruled.