The Wall Street Journal
By James FreemanMay 18, 2021 5:10 pm ET
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D., Mich.) has taken a back seat to no one in regulating the daily lives of citizens during the era of Covid-19. She’s even trying to make some emergency workplace rules permanent in the Wolverine State. But for her own life, it seems Gov. Whitmer is not exactly a fanatic about following rules when she’s in the passenger seat.
Recently this column noted Ms. Whitmer’s decision to ignore her own warnings against out-of-state travel. Now there are more questions about her mode of transportation. Paul Egan reports for the Detroit Free Press from Lansing:
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.
This new level of controversy relates to questions of both regulation and financing. Mr. Egan reports:
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.”
As for the financing, the $27,521 trip was funded by a nonprofit organization controlled by Ms. Whitmer called Michigan Transition 2019, with Ms. Whitmer herself pitching in a token $855, the estimated price of a comparable first-class seat.
There’s also more news on Ms. Whitmer’s rejection of her own government’s travel advisory. It’s not just an issue of deciding to fly to Florida—which she has singled out as a travel risk—but also her government’s guidance on what to do in the event of such travel.
Rod Meloni and Natasha Dado of NBC affiliate WDIV report that a few weeks before her trip, Michigan’s health department released guidance saying, “get tested with a PCR viral test one to three days before you travel.” The WDIV report continues:
Then upon your return to Michigan the guidelines read, “Get tested again with a viral test three to five days after your trip and stay home and self-quarantine for a full seven days after travel, even if your test is negative.”
“If you don’t get tested, stay home and self-quarantine for 10 days after travel,” the guidelines continued.
Yet [three days after her return]... Local 4 News cameras rolled as the governor bypassed the self quarantine and attended a vaccination press conference at Ford Field...
Local 4 News asked the governor’s office why she did not follow her own health department’s guidance and the response was it wasn’t an executive order and she followed all orders.
One would think that, if nothing else, this episode at least has given the governor an appreciation of how difficult it is for Michiganders to live by the standards she has demanded of them. One might even expect that Ms. Whitmer would finally show a measure of regulatory restraint.
One would be wrong on both counts. Taylor DesOrmeau reports for mlive that “the state is working through a process to make permanent its workplace COVID-19 rules, enforced through the Michigan Occupational Safety and Health Administration.” Business owners hoping for an end to emergency regulations are now facing the prospect that some burdens will be with them forever. According to the mlive report:
A draft of the permanent rules is available online and closely mirrors the current emergency rules – including requiring masks for workers when they can’t maintain 6 feet of distancing, requiring barriers, mandating daily temperature checks and health screenings of employees and recommending people work remotely when feasible.
Relief from Covid rules may require Michigan voters to create distance between Ms. Whitmer and the governor’s office in 2022.
Whitmer Paid Just $855 For Private Florida Flights; Nonprofit Kicked In $27,500 After Uproar.
LANSING – 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.
Until now, concerns about the flight related mainly to whether Whitmer was following the travel advice her administration was asking Michiganders to observe, and how Whitmer paid for the flight.
But charter flight operators are subject to more rigorous maintenance, pilot training, insurance, and other requirements than other flight companies.
In a Friday memo that disclosed details about the cost of the controversial flight and how the governor's office says it paid for the flight, Whitmer chief of staff JoAnne Huls said Whitmer's officials "made a decision to use a chartered flight for this trip" because of ongoing security concerns.
"The cost to charter the flight was paid for by the Michigan Transition 2019," a nonprofit corporation controlled by the governor, Huls said.
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."
A phone message left with Air Eagle seeking comment was not immediately returned.
Whitmer spokesman Bobby Leddy said Whitmer "needed secure transportation, the company was able to provide that, and the trip was paid for."
Larry Williams, a retired FAA supervisory aviation safety Inspector and owner of the air safety consulting firm Larry Williams and Associates in Tennessee, said the Whitmer flight would definitely be considered a charter.
Aircraft owners can fly themselves and can in some cases fly friends at no charge under a Part 91 certificate, but if they are going to fly others for a fee they require a Part 135 certificate, Williams said.
"It's pretty serious" in terms of potential civil penalties for both the company that owns the aircraft and the pilot, Williams said. The FAA has made cracking down on unauthorized charter flights a priority, he said.
Huls said a nonprofit corporation, Michigan Transition 2019, doing business as Executive Office Account, paid the $27,521 cost of Whitmer's contentious private plane trip to visit her father, her office said Friday.
Whitmer used her personal funds to pay the $855 cost of her seat, calculated based on the comparable cost of a first-class ticket, spokeswoman Tiffany Brown told the Free Press.
Friday's disclosures followed weeks of criticism of Whitmer for refusing to say when she left the state to visit her father, Richard Whitmer, during the coronavirus pandemic, at a time Michigan residents were being cautioned about travel.
The disclosures also follow a Thursday report in the Free Press in which Democratic and Republican communications experts who have worked for public officials were critical of how the governor's office handled the story, saying the lack of transparency extended a one-day story into one that continued for weeks.
The Michigan Republican Party quickly seized on the latest revelation.
"This new bombshell that Whitmer's plane was not authorized to fly is concerning, yet not surprising," said party spokesman Ted Goodman said. "For Whitmer, it's always been, rules for thee, but not for me."
But, according to the FAA, the charter flight restrictions apply to the airplane's owner and pilot, not the passengers.
Michigan Transition 2019 was incorporated in 2018 under Section 501c4 of the Internal Revenue Code, state records show. Such "social welfare" nonprofit funds are commonly used by state and local officeholders but have been the source of past controversies, notably for former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and for former Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, whose NERD (New Energy to Reinvent and Diversify) Fund was the subject of criticism for not disclosing its corporate donors and for paying the salary of a top Snyder aide, Richard Baird.
Michigan Transition 2019 was initially set up to pay expenses related to Whitmer's inauguration but has since been used for other officeholder expenses, such as consulting, records show.
It was not immediately clear why the cost of the plane and Whitmer's $855 contribution were listed as May expenditures and revenues for the fund, rather than being recorded in March, when the plane was hired.
"The flight was paid immediately upon receiving receipt of the cost," said Brown, without providing further explanation.
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