No Jet for Kristi: State Buys 2015 King Air 350 Turboprop

[TexasTowelie]

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:

The Department of Transportation completed the purchase of a 2015 Beechcraft King Air 350 for about $4.5 million, spokesman Ian Fury confirmed. The aircraft, which holds up to nine passengers, is marketed to business executives with pull-out work tables, a built-in refreshment center and onboard Wi-Fi.

…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/

[DFW]

1. And if ever a Democrat should get elected as governor of South Dakota

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]

2. The King Air

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. The state spent almost $200K on a plane consult?

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]

4. To add insult to injury

the plane consultant that they hired was from Oklahoma.