Lexington (KY) Guild: on selling corporate jet

Lexington Newspaper Guild release

Sept. 17, 2008

In the last nine months, Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader journalists and employees have endured a wage freeze, seen their health insurance premiums skyrocket and had their short-term disability benefits gutted by 40 percent. In June, McClatchy announced corporate-wide layoffs of 1,400.

On Tuesday, McClatchy announced further staffing reductions of 1,150 nationwide. The Herald-Leader announced today it is laying-off 22 employees in Lexington, including nine employees represented by the Newspaper Guild-CWA.

Yet McClatchy's corporate headquarters has been spared the brunt of cost cutting. In fact, McClatchy has added to its corporate bureaucracy. And not long ago CEO Gary Pruitt was even awarded an $800,000 performance bonus as the company's stock tanked. Even when considering the wage freeze implemented for executives, corporate compensation is still excessive.

To add insult to injury, McClatchy only grounded its corporate jet (a 2005 Dassault Falcon 2000EX jet, tail number N57MN) in the last month. As McClatchy was making its employees bleed to pay off crushing debt incurred by corporate decisions, McClatchy executives were jet-setting in luxury. From April 16 to Aug. 5, the jet was flown 30 times, according to flightaware.com. Many of the destinations were only a one- or two-hour drive away.

As workers were asked to do more with less, McClatchy executives enjoyed a plane that features two large flat-panel TVs, with 10 leather passenger seats and a wet bar with quarter fig mahogany cabinetry. A basic Falcon 2000ES cost $23.5 million in 2003. To put that in perspective, $23.5 million is more than the annual profits of many small- to medium-sized newspapers. The Guild applauds the company for selling this extravagant luxury (http://www.avprojets.com/detail.php?planeID=196), but we ask how many jobs could have been saved had McClatchy sold this jet a year ago?

We find it deeply disturbing that the company looked to push loyal employees into the unemployment line before it forced its overpaid executives to sit in an hour or two of traffic.