PLANE STUPID
Nearly $4G vacay trip on NYPD plane
Taxpayers shelled out at least $3,850 for Mayor de Blasio’s NYPD airplane trip Thursday to a Bronx ceremony — more than three times what it would have cost if he and two security officers flew commercial, a Daily News analysis found.
De Blasio, who is on vacation in Quebec, traveled to the Bronx on Thursday as a street was renamed for NYPD hero officer Miosotis Familia, who was shot and killed on July 5, 2017.
It would have cost de Blasio and two security officers between $900 and $1,200 to make the trip from Montreal by plane, travel websites Hotwire.com and Kayak show.
Instead, the mayor flew from Montreal to Westchester County Airport in the NYPD’s Cessna 208 Caravan, which is outfitted with sophisticated radiation detection equipment.
The plane — which the NYPD used in counterterror work — was in the air for seven hours in service of de Blasio’s Montreal-Bronx-Montreal trip.
The News’ calculation that the trip cost at least $3,850 is based on an estimate by aviation consultant Ken Paskar that it typically costs $550 per hour to fly a Cessna 208 Caravan.
Paskar based his estimate on aviation industry standard costs. His calculation covers fuel and maintenance. It does not include the plane’s $3 million price tag or the wages of its pilots — which would likely drive up the cost even more.
De Blasio’s round trip Thursday between Montreal and the Bronx was his first use of the plane, mayoral spokesman Eric Phillips said.
A former police official told The News that setting up the trip would have taken some time — and that de Blasio could easily have figured out another way to travel to the ceremony.
”This wasn’t planned in three hours. These things are planned well in advance,” the former police official said.
“You could have made other arrangements,” the official added. “In this case, one could raise the question that it was an inappropriate use of resources. You can’t not care about appearances when dealing with something like this.”
Public Advocate Letitia James initially balked at judging de Blasio’s use of the plane, but later said, “I don’t believe it was an appropriate use of that aircraft.”
A police spokesman declined to answer specific questions on the use of the plane, citing security.
“The use of NYPD resources for protection and transportation is determined by the Intelligence Bureau in coordination with other relevant department units, and it is based on a range of factors, including security, scheduling and efficiency,” the spokesman said.
“These assets are deployed to ensure they do not impact other operational needs of the NYPD.”
De Blasio’s trip to the Bronx required four separate flights.
The NYPD counterterror plane took off from MacArthur Airport in Islip at 6:36 a.m. Thursday and arrived in Montreal at 8:18 a.m. The plane departed Montreal at 9:09 a.m. with de Blasio aboard, and landed at Westchester County Airport at 10:58 a.m. The plane parked at Westchester until 1:48 p..m. and then flew de Blasio back to Montreal arriving at 3:34 p.m. It left Montreal at 4:19 p.m. and returned to MacArthur Airport at 6:12 p.m.
The NYPD uses the plane to overfly ships headed to New York Harbor. The plane is outfitted to detect radiation aboard the ships that might indicate they’re carrying something that threatens the city. The overflights are usually conducted dozens of miles from the harbor. The city bought the plane last year. Federal funds from the Department of Homeland Security covered 75% of the $3 million price of the Cessna. The city kicked in 25%.