High-fliers : The Enron jet set
Robert Bryce
Monday November 4, 2002
The Guardian
guardian.co.uk
Robin Lay wanted to come home.
The sand, the sun and the beautiful people were fun, but Robin,
Linda Lay's daughter from her previous marriage, had been in the
south of France long enough. It was time to go back to Houston
and be with her mom and dad. So in mid-1999, Ken or Linda Lay
made a few phone calls, and a few hours later, an Enron Falcon
900 jet was dispatched - empty, except for the pilots - to fetch
her from Nice.
Never mind the cost. Never mind the squadrons of commercial
airliners that fly from France to Houston every day of the week.
Never mind that Robin was an adult in her early 30s who should
have been able to fend for herself. At Enron, what mattered to
the Lays, was what mattered.
The Falcon 900 is a lovely aeroplane. Capable of cruising at
560mph, its wide leather chairs and suave couch make
first-class seats on a commercial jetliner look shabby. In the
universe of private jets, it's hard to beat the Falcon. But all that
luxury comes with a hefty price tag. Enron's internal billing
system estimated the cost of flying the Falcon 900 (a new one
costs about $30m) at $5,200 per hour. Which means that Robin
Lay's excursion from the Côte d'Azur to the Côte de Smog cost
Enron $125,000.
No other part of Enron's business better reflected the company's
out-of-control egos and out-of-control spending than the aviation
department. While other parts of the company were burning
through cash at record rates, Enron executives were cruising five
miles high in ultra-luxe style. By spring 2001, Enron had six jets
in its fleet. There were two Falcon 900s, three Hawker 800s and
a Falcon 50.
Enron did need access to private jets, but it was also obvious
that during the Skilling era, the company's hangars and planes
became a high-altitude playground for the company's Big Shots.
Car races in Canada, shopping in New York, vacations in Cabo
San Lucas (an upscale Mexican resort on the tip of Baja
California), a "business" trip to London - all were taken on Enron
jets, at Enron expense, by Enron's most senior executives, and
not a thought was ever given to how much all of it was really
costing.
"The biggest abuser of the planes was Ken Lay and his family,"
said one longtime Enron pilot, who lost over $2m in retirement
and deferred compensation after the company's bankruptcy.
Whether the destination was the Lays' chalet in Aspen or a
quick trip to Cabo San Lucas, Ken and Linda Lay always flew in
the newest Falcon 900 in the Enron fleet.
Sometimes, the Lays needed two jets: a His and a Hers.
"Several times, Mr Lay was going to New York, but Mrs Lay
could not leave at the same time. She'd have something to do,
so she'd have to leave an hour or two later. So we'd fly him to
New York and then follow that plane with another one. Then, the
aeroplanes would have to deadhead [return empty] back to
Houston. It was extravagant. It was a waste of money. It'd
happen eight or more times a year," says one member of the
aviation team.
The Lay family was constantly finding new and inventive ways of
using the planes as their personal pickup truck. When Robin
Lay moved to France, Ken and Linda wanted to visit. And since
there seemed to be plenty of room in the Falcon 900, they
decided to take Robin's bed with them. "We were supposed to
take a king-size bed, but we couldn't get the box spring through
the door. I said, 'Unless you want me to cut it in half, it's not
going.' So we left it in the hangar. We ended up taking the
mattress and the headboard and the side rails," said one pilot
who made the trip. A few months later, when Robin moved back
to the US, the Enron planes were used to carry her furniture,
including the bed, back to Houston.
In 2000 alone, Ken Lay's personal plane use was estimated at
$334,179. |
