Florida may sell Kottkamp’s favorite plane

Josh Hafenbrack | Orlando Sentinel, Tallahasee Bureau
3:04 PM EDT, March 26, 2009

TALLAHASSEE -- The Florida Senate's budget would sell the state's King Air plane used extensively by Lt. Gov. Jeff Kottkamp, downsizing the executive air fleet to one jet reserved primarily for Gov. Charlie Crist's use.

The sale of the plane is expected to net about $2 million, said Sen. Carey Baker, R-Eustis, who chairs the Senate's General Government Appropriations Committee. In addition, the Senate plan would lay off two of the state's six full-time pilots and save on operating and maintenance costs for the King Air.

Baker said the decision had nothing to do with recent scrutiny of Kottkamp's flying habits, but was based on the state's tight budget.

The remaining jet -- a Cessna Citation -- would be pretty much reserved for the governor's use, Baker said. Other top-ranking officials, like Kottkamp, Attorney General Bill McCollum and Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, would have to make other arrangements like commercial or charter flight service, he said.

In February, the South Florida SunSentinel reported that Kottkamp billed taxpayers $425,000 for 365 flights on state planes during his first two years in office. Two-thirds of the flights involved getting Kottkamp to and from Fort Myers, where he and his wife own a $1.4 million house. State planes flew empty one-way 70 times to pick him up or drop him off in his hometown, flight records show.

Kottkamp's wife and toddler son flew for free on about two dozen trips, despite rules requiring them to pay. Those flights cost taxpayers $12,974. Kottkamp subsequently reimbursed the state for his family's flights.