Why Is Congress Paying $66 Million for a $49 Million Jet?
AUGUST 10, 2009, 1:30 PM ET

By Robert Frank

What struck me most about the Congressional private jets was the price tag.

As if loading up on private jets in an economic crisis wasn’t enough, Congress has pulled off a feat even today’s most extravagant billionaires would have a hard time matching. That is, they are paying $66 million for a jet with a sticker price of $49 million. (Read about the backlash that has started in Congress here.)

I’m talking, of course, about the G550. Congress is buying three, at $66 million a pop.

That price sounded high to me, since the G550 buyers I know paid around $45 million (at most) for their planes, and that was during the boom times. So I called Robert Baugnier, spokesman for Gulfstream. He informed me that the sticker price for a brand new, completed G550–leather interior and all–is $49 million.

Jet broker Jay Duckson of Central Business Jets tells me that because of weak demand for private jets amid the recession, he can get clients a new Gulfstream G550 for less than $43 million. “It’s like the auto dealers right now,” he said.

More…

http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2009/08/10/why...49-million-jet/

For extra wide entry doors to allow their swell heads to pass