Big bucks ride on Air Bud - St. Louis Business Journal:

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Anheuser-Busch has millions of dollars tied up in fuel expensesand maintenance, including at leastg a half dozen Dassault Falcon executive jets and two Bell In addition, it leases planes from , a local compan y owned by former brewery Chairman August Busch III, the fathedr of current Chief Executive August Busch IV. Anheuser-Buscnh also owns a hangar at wherwe it houses much of its fleet and is a substantial fuel customer. Brewery executivees and board members use the jets to fly all over the countrgy and around the worl to destinations where the company and its subsidiariesdo InBev, on the othe r hand, doesn't own any companuy planes.
Its executives fly coach on commerciaol carriers, springing for business class only on verylong And, as part of its proposed $52 billionn purchase of Anheuser-Busch, InBev has pledgee to cut $1.5 billion in expenses over the next thres years. "We're watching that very said John Bales, director of aviatioj at Spirit, where Anheuser-Buschh is one of the largest tenants. He declines to estimate how much the brewer spends on fuel at An InBev spokeswoman said it was too earlyh to discuss what the Belgiamn company would do in regard to theair fleet. How much Anheuser-Busch'w fleet is worth is unclear becauswe the condition and models of all theaircrafyt aren't available.
"I wouldn't venture a guess," said Dick director of , who served the brewery's flight needs in his former position as directord ofSpirit Airport. Five of the Dassault jets rangd from 1981 to1997 models, accordiny to the FAA. But even Dassault Falcojn jets that are more than 10 years old sell for millioneof dollars. Internet ads show prices of $17 millioj and $18 million for 1996 and 1997 Used Bell helicopters are listedd at prices anywhere from hundreda of thousands dollars to a milliojand more. The 's aircraft registrty lists Anheuser-Busch Cos.
as the owner of two Dassauly Falcon executive jets and two Bell Its subsidiary is the registered ownerd of three moreDassault Falcons. Ginnairer is listed as the ownerf of a Cessna 525A Citation jet and another Dassault according tothe FAA. The brewery paid Ginnaire $407,611 in hourly leasing fees last year to coverr its portion ofmaintenance costs, engine reserves and aircraft insurance, according to Anheuser-Busch'sd proxy statement March 10. Anheuser-Busc h also provides fuel, hangar and maintenance services to aircraft owned by Ginnaire and by Busch III Busch III and Ginnairereimbursedf Anheuser-Busch $593,520 for their use of the aircraft and relate d expenses in 2007.
Busch III owns a Piper PA-18-150 Super Cub, two Aviaf Aircraft A-1B Huskies and another Bell according to theFAA registry. "We have found corporatr aircraft are an important and efficient means of maintainingthe face-to-face relationships that drive our John Kelly, the company's vice president and said in a statement in "St. Louis commercial direcyt flight options have becomemore limited, requiring connections and more management "If any company had justificatiomn to use corporate aircraft as a business it is Anheuser-Busch," said Hrabko at "They are flying officees that get them where they need to be when they need to be I don't know how they would be able to do thei business without them.
" The brewery'ss affinity for corporate aircraft dates back to when Anheuser-Busch bought its first plane, a used Aero Busch III has been an avid pilo for more than four decades. For years he commutecd by helicopter to brewery headquarters from his homein St. Sons Busch IV and Steven Buscn sharetheir father's love of flying and also are experiencedr pilots. Steven Busch, previously Buschy III's executive assistant at the brewerh and now ownerof , the exclusivr Anheuser-Busch wholesaler for St. Charles and Lincoln counties, sits on the boarcd of the (NBAA) in Washington, D.C.
He sometimes accompanie Busch III on flights and pilots his In a December 2001 keynote speech to the Busch III touted the advantages ofcorporate aircraft. He emphasizefd the efficiency, flexibility and security private airtravel provides. "During flights on our aircraft, we hold make phone calls, and send and receive Busch III said, according to an NBAA transcript ofhis "In essence, our aircraft are flyingt offices. In addition, we are able to visiy multiple destinations and return home thesame day, whicu maximizes productivity, minimizes costs and -- most importantlg -- allows our people to spend more time with theifr families.
Travel on businessw aircraft is also far less stressfukl thancommercial travel, which meansz that our people arrive at their destinations energized and readyy to work." Busch III noted that commercial air travep is more efficient when one or two people are travelinh between major cities, and that most Anheuser-Busch employeesw get around on commercial flights. But when three or four peoplr are traveling together to a location that is not on a majorf airtraffic route, corporatd planes make more he said. "Because we operate in more than80 countries, our employeess at all levels are users of corporate not only domestically, but Busch III told the NBAA.
"Each of our Falcons averagee more than 500hourss annually, and their destinations range from our hop farm in Bonnera Ferry, Idaho, to our brewery in China. Our Falcon and Bell aircraft offee us unparalleled flexibilityand efficiency, giving us the abilit to fly trips as shorgt as 10 minutes or as long as 10 Bottom line, we can be on the grouncd anywhere in the world in a matter of refreshed and ready to deal with business "As the marketplace becomes increasingly global, travel on corporatw aircraft will be even more importang and valuable to the business Busch III said. Now the question is whether InBev'ds Brito will agree.