AviationFAA investigating use of Michigan state-owned planes

The Federal Aviation Administration(FAA)is looking into the State of Michigan’s practice of leasing its passenger planes to athletic officials at Michigan State University(MSU).

Officials from the FAA, Michigan Department of Transportation(MDOT), and MSU have begun a preliminary probe into the use of the planes, after the Lansing State Journal published a series of articles on the taxpayer-funded planes and who uses them.

MDOT is responsible for the four planes the state owns and manages the flight schedule.

MDOT spokesman Jeff Cranson told the Journal the FAA wants access to financial documents such as billing, invoices, and proof of payments.

“MDOT aeronautics officials are happy to cooperate with the FAA,” Cranson said. “The MDOT Office of Aeronautics treats MSU the same as they treat every other customer state agency.”

The planes can be used by all state employees and employees of the state’s fifteen four-year universities, as long as they can justify the travel as  work-related.

TheJournal revealed Michigan State basketball coach Tom Izzo and football coach Mark Dantonio are two of the most frequent fliers. Izzo has used the planes at least fifty-five times in the last five years, and Dantonio used the planes at least forty-seven times during the same time.

According to the Journal, University employees and their guests have used the planes at least 150 times in the last five years, which was third most among any state organization, behind MDOT and the Michigan State Police.

Flights for recruiting trips are funded by the University’s athletic department, which does not receive taxpayer funding. According to officials, the athletics department pays MDOT a per-hour fee for the use of the planes.

Cranson and MSU spokesman Jason Cody told the Journal that they are complying with the FFA’s requests for documents and information.

“At this point, this is an informal investigation by the FAA Flight Standards District Office in Grand Rapids,” Cranson told the Journal. “Their findings will determine whether it becomes a formal investigation by (the Office of) FAA Chief Counsel in Chicago.”

Cody said the FAA is seeking “records pertaining to those flights” that involved athletic coaches and staff, but declined to discuss the university’s involvement in the investigation.

Under federal open records laws, the FAA has twenty business days to provide an initial response to the request but can take longer to actually provide the requested information.