Sun, Nov 23, 2008 page11

• ‘All options’ on the table: GM

  JET-SETTING BEGGARS After taking heat over their use of private jets, two of the ‘Big Three’ said they might reduce their fleets, while Chrysler said it didn’t have jets

  • AFP AND AP
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  Members of General Motors’ (GM) board of directors are willing to consider “all options” for the ailing auto maker, including filing for bankruptcy protection, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site late on Friday.

  Citing unnamed people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said this position puts the board members in rare disagreement with GM chairman and chief executive officer Rick Wagoner.

  Wagoner told Congress this week that GM management believed bankruptcy was not a viable option for the company. Instead, GM is focusing on persuading lawmakers to provide financial help.

  According to the Journal, the GM board of directors agrees that seeking government funding is the company’s top priority. But it isn’t willing to dismiss the possibility of a bankruptcy filing, the report said.

  In a statement provided to the Journal on Friday, GM said the board had discussed bankruptcy but didn’t view it as a “viable solution to the company’s liquidity problems.”

  Meanwhile, GM is dropping two of its five corporate jets but has no plans to fly its senior executives commercially despite sharp criticism of living it up while begging for a massive bailout.

  The decision to take the planes out of service had nothing to do with criticism from lawmakers, who accused the executives of living large as they sought a US$25 billion bailout, GM spokesman Tom Wilkinson said on Friday.

  “It is response to budget cutbacks in general due to the sales slump and credit crisis,” Wilkinson said, adding that two other planes were cut in September.

  GM’s board, like many other large corporations, requires that “key corporate officers travel by corporate aircraft for safety and security reasons,” he said.

  GM’s chief executive Rick Wagoner was grilled along with the heads of Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co on Wednesday for their use of corporate jets to fly to Washington to beg for billions in loan guarantees.

  “Couldn’t you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something to get here?” Democratic representative Gary Ackerman of New York said at a hearing of the House Financial Services Committee. “It’s almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in high hat and tuxedo.”

  Democrats in Congress on Thursday put off a vote on a bailout for crisis-hit “Big Three” automakers until at least next month and ordered industry chiefs to come up with a new restructuring plan.

  The automakers have said they welcomed the opportunity to provide lawmakers with their restructuring plans and show they would be able to emerge from the current economic slump as viable companies. But while Chrysler’s chief Robert Nardelli has said he would be willing to work for a salary of US$1, he won’t likely get stuck in a line at security when flying for business purposes.

  “We have a strict travel policy governing the use of corporate aircraft and we continue to adhere to it,” Chrysler spokesman Ed Gasten said.

  Chrysler does not own any jets and instead leases them when necessary for corporate travel, Gaston said.

  In a statement issued on Friday, Ford Motor Co said it may sell its fleet of five corporate jets, which it said has been reduced from nine in 2005.

  “Ford’s top priority is to continue making progress on our transformation plan, and we do not want anything to distract us,” spokesman Mark Truby said in a statement. “We are exploring all cost-effective solutions for our air travel.”
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