Fortune 100 firms cut down CEOs' personal jet use

NEW DELHI: The job of heading the world's top companies seem to have become less 'high-flying,' as CEOs are cutting down on their personal visits in corporate jets and enterprises are also slashing such perquisites to them.

While it is rare in India for companies to make public details about the personal use of corporate aircraft by their CEOs, it is mandatory to make such disclosures in the US and some other Western countries.

According to a new study, the personal use of corporate jets by the CEOs at Fortune 100 companies the 100 biggest companies in terms of size has reduced both in terms of value and prevalence after several years of consistent rise.



"From 2006 to 2007, both the median value and prevalence of aircraft-related perquisites declined for Fortune 100 chiefs," US-based executive compensation research firm Equilar Inc found.

These declines seem to offset several years of consistent growth in the use of aircraft by CEOs, Euilar said.

Some well-known Fortune 100 CEOs include legendary investor Warren Buffett, Indian-origin banker Vikram Pandit, cola-queen Indra Nooyi and media moghul Rupert Murdoch.

Besides Berkshire Hathaway, Citigroup, Pepsico and News Corp, headed by these three persons, the Fortune 100 companies also include Wal-Mart, General Motors, General Electric, Ford, Bank of America, IBM, Intel, Coca-Cola and News Corp.

In value terms, the average of perquisites related to the personal use of corporate aircraft by Fortune 100 CEOs fell by 9.8 per cent in 2007, Equilar said.

Besides, the prevalence of Fortune 100 CEOs reporting personal use of corporate jets by their CEOs also fell from 78.5 per cent in 2006 to 74.7 per cent last year.