Nixon's Plane Truth
[ Patrick Tuohey ]Governor Jay Nixon—we are not making this up—bought a plane. The King Air 250 cost $5.6 million, seats up to ten passengers in addition to crew and has a range of 1,610 miles. Its manufacturer goes on to say that,
With a spacious, handcrafted interior, the King Air 250 is remarkably versatile and comfortable. New ergonomic yokes and a standard lighted chart holder increase crew comfort, while the square-oval cabin provides passengers with generous head and shoulder room. Elegant interior touches make the King Air 250 a serious business solution with outstanding amenities to match.
Sounds nice, but not everyone is impressed. The News-Tribune editorialized on the purchase thusly,
We appreciate the desire of the governor — or any governor — to remain close to constituents, but let’s be candid about much of this travel.
Many of the governor’s flights are self-serving, dog-and-pony show photo opportunities.
The chief executive is dunning his own departments to stave off spending from his own budget. It’s a pathetic practice and poor public policy.
State Democrats are also not pleased. We imagine one of them must be Sen. Claire McCaskill who sold her own "damn" plan at a loss for $1.9 million in 2011. We did some quick research and came up with the following table comparing the two planes.
| McCaskill Pilatus PC-12 |
Nixon King Air 250 |
|
| Passengers | 9 | 10 |
| Cruise speed |
312.5 MPH |
356.8 MPH |
| Range | 1,753 miles |
1,610 miles |
| Cost | $1.9 million |
$5.6 million |
It looks like Nixon could have saved a few million dollars and gotten a comparable plane and even helped McCaskill break even. But don't worry, it's not like he was spending his own money—he was spending yours.
UPDATE: Missourinet reports that Sen. Brad Lager says of the purchase that,
some aircraft owner-friends of his have told him they “never would have even thought of buying a brand new aircraft right now because on the used market right now they’re paying 35 to 38 cents on the dollar.”
1/23/2013 5:08:25 PM
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