November 19, 2008
Many are skeptical after it was reported
that the three big auto makers asking for a $25 billion government
bailout all traveled to Washington, D.C. on lavish corporate jets.
Ford Chief Alan Mulally, General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner and Chrysler
boss Robert Nardelli all came under fire for their jet-set commute.
"Raise your hands if you are planning to sell your jet in
place now and fly back commercial," said one congressman.
"Let the record show no hands went up."
Congressman Gary Ackerman said, "It's almost like someone
showing up at a soup kitchen in a high hat and tuxedo." He
along with many other Americans are wondering why the execs did
not, at the very least, downgrade to first class.
The CEOs looked on sheepishly and did not respond. They say three
million jobs are at risk if they don't get the bailout.
GM Chief Rick Wagoner's trip cost $20,000. A first class ticket
on a regular commercial flight would have cost $837.
Crisis management expert Mike Paul says the jet-set commute,
first revealed by ABC News, was a public relations disaster for
the embattled auto industry. "If I had the three big auto
makers as a client right now, the message I would be giving them
is, 'You've got to show, with every single action you have in
public, that you're cutting back too. '"
The embarrassing revelation echoes the uproar over insurance
giant AIG, whose executives went on a lavish all expenses paid
junket to one of the most luxurious resorts in America after receiving
a multi-billion dollar bailout. Now Motor City's top executives
are being accused of a lavish indulgence as well.
