After saying that Michigan’s problem with COVID-19 was due to snowbirds returning from Florida for the summer, Gov Gretchen Whitmer went to Florida on vacation herself. But instead of flying commercial, she asked a group of billionaires with business before the state to loan her their private jet for the trip.
There’s more than a little conflict of interest there.
Now, the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) is getting into the act as it seems that the jet is not licensed to operate as a charter. This is a gift that seems to keep giving.
Whitmer says that the Florida trip was not a vacation and that she went there to take care of her father who is said to have a chronic illness.
There should also be an ethics investigation into Whitmer. You do not as governor of a state ask wealthy donors to use their jet when they regularly have business before you. It really doesn’t take much thought to realize just how inappropriate that is. there has to be some form of punishment for such actions.
The FAA says the company ‘hired’ to fly Whitmer to Florida didn’t have the proper certification to charter flights.
The Detroit Free Press reported:
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating after determining that a company hired to fly Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to Florida is not authorized to operate charter flights.
The possible violation of FAA rules by Air Eagle LLC, the Detroit company that owns the plane Whitmer flew on to visit her father in March, adds a new level of controversy to concerns about the flight.
Elizabeth Isham Cory, a spokeswoman for the FAA, said companies that operate charter flights must have a Part 135 certificate issued by the federal agency. Other aircraft companies have a Part 91 certificate, she said.
The Gulfstream G280 Whitmer’s office confirmed she flew on “is not on a 135 certificate and Air Eagle does not have a Part 135 certificate,” Cory said in an email to the Free Press.
Another FAA spokesperson said later on Monday that it is premature to conclude that a violation occurred, but “the FAA is looking into the matter.”
