Disaster

Private jets are expensive and usually reserved for the rich. Someone should have told the auto industry these facts.

In November of 2008 the CEO’s of GM, Ford and Chrysler showed up to a hearing to ask for a government bailout in a private jet. A California representative asked them if they flew commercially and opened the floodgates for the press. The CEO’s were ridiculed for not spending their money in a smart manner. The CEO’s then drove hybrid cars to their next meeting.

Obviously this was a bad move. The CEO’s should have thought of a more economical way to travel, maybe taking commercial transportation would have been the better option to make it seem like they were just like the little guy, but they were not like the little. These CEO’s were asking for millions of dollars to fix their problems.

How would I have defused this situation if I were the PR person for any of these companies? Easily. The quote released would look something like this: “Our company already owns the jet, it would not make economical sense to just let the jet sit on the runway at an airport, that would be the true waste of money. Currently we are looking at downsizing in order to save money and we have addressed transportation issues as a budget cut.”

Even if the jet was not for sale, it would not be unfair to say we are looking at the possibility of downsizing, because at the time the company was cutting employees and other expenses.