Joe Escobar, Editorial Director, D.O.M. magazine

Well, the CEOs of the big three U.S. automakers are in Washington today asking the government for $25 billion of taxpayer money. They are submitting detailed proposals on why they need the money, what changes they are making to better compete both now and in the future and making their case on why it would be disastrous if they don't get these "bridge" loans.

I believe that giving loans to the automakers should be considered -- so long as they don't continue with business as usual. There are many reasons the automakers are in trouble. Some of them can be fixed. Some of them will continue to cripple the companies unless major changes take place. And continuing to pay CEOs extreme salaries while they continue to run their businesses into the ground is something that needs to be addressed. This isn't something unique to the auto industry. CEO pay should be tied to performance. It shouldn't be an entitlement.

It's funny how the CEOs made different travel arrangements this time around. Gone are the corporate flights to DC. Word has it that GMs CEO drove a Malibu hybrid from Detroit to Washington. Ford's CEO went in an Escape hybrid. I'm not sure how Chrysler's CEO got there, but I'm pretty sure he ditched the corporate jet.

Corporate flight departments are seen in the public eye as a luxury, a perk for CEOs that make way too much money. But that isn't necessarily the case (the perk part, not the part about way too much money). Corporate flight departments can be a valuable business tool. They provide quicker travel, often to smaller airports not serviced by the major airlines. Multiple facilities can be visited on a given day, making for better use of the management teams' time.

But that may be a moot point in this case. Because of the negative PR from last month's flights, the automakers have already announced plans to scale back or eliminate their flight departments. 

As for the staff of D.O.M., rest assured we always travel commercial.

But a corporate jet sure would be nice! Wink

Thanks for reading!

Joe Escobar