South Dakota
Related: About this forumNo Jet for Kristi: State Buys 2015 King Air 350 Turboprop
Governor Kristi Noem spent $195K on Oklahoma plane consultants Verity Jet Group to tell her a truth that any regular citizen in the street could have told her for free: the Governor of South Dakota does not need her own jet plane. Stephen Groves reports that the Department of Transportation is replacing the state’s King Air turboprop planes with a 2015 King Air turboprop:
…South Dakota’s new plane will be one of the most luxurious state-owned planes in the region. North Dakota flies a pair of King Air 200s manufactured in 1995. Minnesota’s King Air 200 is a 1993 model. And Nebraska’s King Air C90 GTX, which it purchased straight from the factory in 2014 for $3.5 million, has a cabin roughly half the size of South Dakota’s new plane.
The state is selling its King Air 200 along with a 1995 King Air 90. The Department of Transportation estimated the two planes would need about $850,000 in maintenance in the next three years. The three planes in the state’s fleet were previously averaging an annual maintenance cost of $333,000 [Stephen Groves, “Noem Settles on Roomy Turboprop for New State Airplane,” AP, 2021.08.05].
The state’s new-to-us King Air 350 can easily whisk Noem and a full load of seven other passengers to a pop break at What-a-Burger in McAllen, Texas, in 3.5 hours and still have plenty of fuel to fly to a fundraiser in Dallas. Mar-a-Lago is still in range, too, and hey—if Kristi wants to get their faster, she can borrow pillow-man Mike Lindell’s jet again.
https://dakotafreepress.com/2021/08/08/no-jet-for-kristi-state-buys-2015-king-air-350-turboprop/
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DFW
(57,239 posts)Former governor Noem will be the first to yell bloody murder about spending so much taxpayer money on maintenance for the high-maintenance plane she bought.
Sherman A1
(38,958 posts)Is really much more aircraft than is necessary for trips on “official” business around the state. I would think it wiser to set up a lease deal with some fixed base operation and simply get a nice airplane on an as needed basis. Why any state government needs to own an aircraft is beyond me.
viva la
(3,935 posts)So more than what a retail worker would make in ten years? Not for the plane but just for advice on what to buy?
This is a poor state with a small population and tax base. Why did they elect her?
TexasTowelie
(118,929 posts)the plane consultant that they hired was from Oklahoma.