Friday, January 30, 2009
With several departments in the University facing the possibility of budget cuts, some may not be able to afford to continue using the University’s two private aircraft.
If departmental budget cuts make using the University planes unaffordable, programs such as medical outreach, grant seeking and the Kansas Honors Program would have to restrict their travel locations. To continue operating as they are now, the money not spent on the private aircraft would be spent on driving costs, commercial airfare and hotels.
“It’s a budgeting decision that’s made on a departmental level,” said Lynn Bretz, director of University Communications.
The planes, a 1997 Cessna Citation Bravo jet and a 1999 Beechcraft King Air C-90, were purchased with private funds through the KU Endowment Association.
“No state tax dollars and no tuition dollars have ever been used for the purchase of either plane,” Bretz said.
The University departments that use the planes pay per in-flight hour, which have hourly rates of $1,625 for the Citation Bravo and $785 for the King Air. The hourly rates are used to pay for the fuel and maintenance costs of both planes.
The planes cost $700,000 in operational fees each year, which is covered by state funds, Bretz said.
More than 300 flights are made each year using the planes; the majority of the flights are for medical outreach, when doctors from the KU Medical Center fly to rural cities in Kansas to provide medical care to those who cannot afford to drive. The medical outreach program helps about 2,500 people each year.
“It enables a medical center based in the extreme eastern part of the state to serve all of the state,” Bretz said. “Our medical mission – that’s the thing we’d like to protect most, if possible,” Bretz said.
The University of Kansas Alumni Association makes about 25 flights each year to counties in Kansas to recognize high school seniors who rank in the top 10 percent of their class as a part of the Kansas Honors Program.
Jenny Memmott, Lecompton graduate student, has flown on one of the planes as many as 40 to 50 times to play the piano at Kansas Honors Program dinners and ceremonies.
“It makes a lot of places accessible that wouldn’t be,” Memmott said. “It’s certainly not very feasible to drive to Garden City and come back in one night.”
Of the 40 Kansas Honors Program events this year, 25 are flown to and 15 are driven to.
“The plane is essential when we have to go across the state and get back to classes and jobs,” Jennifer Sanner, senior vice president of communications for the Alumni Association, said.
The use of the planes has also helped officials from the Spencer Museum of Art have face-to-face meetings to discuss grants and meet with potential donors.
“Any time you can meet one-on-one with donors and granting agencies, they get to know you,” Carolyn Chinn Lewis, assistant director of the art museum, said. “I think it’s much more conducive for future dollars.”
— — Edited by Casey Miles
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Comments
Budget cuts may keep planes grounded
Aren't these planes usually used by Kansas Athletics, Inc. for recruitment purposes? Why isn't that in the article?
Budget cuts may keep planes grounded
I don't believe those are the planes used by the athletics dept. They should have their own that they pay for independently. Thanks UDK for running this article. Its nice to know that when university administrators are talking about deffering maintence projects while our buildings fall apart around us, some more rediculous outlays are getting axed too.
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