Jeff Landry Soars High: Inside the $5.5 Million Plane Acquired by Louisiana State Police

In September, the Louisiana State Police acquired a small passenger aircraft for $5.5 million, which Governor Jeff Landry has been utilizing for his travels across the state.

The aircraft, a 2019 Pilatus PC-12 single-engine turboprop, was bought pre-owned, as indicated by a state government receipt from September 18. Records from the Federal Aviation Administration confirm that the state authorized it for operation on October 15.

Developed by a Swiss firm, this aircraft can serve for cargo delivery, medical aid, or search and rescue missions, yet it is predominantly advertised as a “business” aircraft that comfortably accommodates between six and nine passengers.

“It is genuinely an executive transport-type aircraft,” stated Thomas Anthony, director of the aviation and security program at the University of Southern California.

Flight records that are publicly accessible demonstrate the aircraft shuttling between Baton Rouge and Lafayette, in proximity to the governor’s residence, and also from Lafayette to New Orleans several times at the beginning of January. Landry was in New Orleans frequently at the start of the year after the New Year’s Day attack on Bourbon Street.

Along with the governor’s transport, the aircraft is set to be used for extraditing prisoners, transporting subject matter experts for state police, and ferrying the state police command staff to urgent meetings, as stated by Louisiana State Police spokesman Capt. Nick Manale in an email.

Manale explained that instead of replacing the two 20-year-old “executive” helicopters used by the previous three governors for their travels within Louisiana, state police opted to procure the airplane. He mentioned that the helicopters have been grounded due to maintenance difficulties.

“The aircraft are quite outdated, and some avionics manufacturers no longer provide support for that model,” Manale remarked.

Utilizing an aircraft for the governor’s journeys is expected to result in cost savings for the state, according to Landry’s office.

“This resulted in both immediate and long-term savings, as the operational expenses of the aircraft are considerably less than maintaining two helicopters,” stated Landry spokeswoman Kate Kelly in a written communication.

Helicopters, which possess more moving components than planes, generally experience more frequent breakdowns and can be costly to fix, remarked Anthony, the aviation specialist.

“[The Pilatus] does not require maintenance as often as a helicopter does,” he noted. “For executive transportation, employing the plane would be more economical. It’s quicker. It can reach higher altitudes. Frankly, it’s more comfortable.”

Additional aircraft acquired

Besides the plane, Louisiana State Police also procured two new helicopters last spring from Bell Helicopter Textron Inc. in Texas for $6.5 million each.

The Bell 407GXi helicopters were delivered to Baton Rouge and received federal flight certification in August, just one month prior to the state police’s acquisition of the new plane, according to both federal and state records.

Lane Evans, managing director for Bell North America, mentioned that the new helicopters “further enhance” the state police fleet, according to a press release from the company in August.

Manale indicated that the helicopters were not intended to substitute for the older, pricier ones that the previous governors utilized.

Bell promotes its 407GXi for law enforcement use, highlighting its efficacy in search and rescue operations. Louisiana State Police, which operates a total of nine Bell aircraft, conducts over 1,000 public safety missions annually with its planes and helicopters, stated Manale.

 However, the recently acquired Bell helicopters by the state police are also appropriate for executive transportation and can accommodate six passengers.

For the majority of the last 30 years, governors of Louisiana have depended nearly entirely on state police helicopters for their intrastate journeys.

Seven individuals who served as aides to the previous four governors – Republicans Mike Foster and Bobby Jindal, along with Democrats Kathleen Blanco and John Bel Edwards – do not recall their former leaders ever utilizing a plane owned by state police.

They stated that gubernatorial flights usually took place on commercial airlines or private planes provided by political benefactors, with helicopters managing nearly all of the formal state trips within Louisiana.

During Foster’s second term as governor, from 2000-04, Louisiana State Police acquired a Beechcraft King Air, akin to a Pilatus, via a military surplus auction. However, Foster did not utilize it personally, as per Terry Landry, a former State Police superintendent under Foster who subsequently became a Democratic state representative. Notably, Terry Landry is not related to Governor Jeff Landry.

“I can’t recall ever using that aircraft for a governor. But then again, Mike Foster didn’t fly very much,” Terry Landry remarked.

Foster preferred to be transported in one of two Bell 407 helicopters, an earlier iteration of the 407GXi helicopters purchased by state police this year, Terry Landry noted. The governor from Franklin famously persuaded his State Police pilot to provide him with lessons on how to operate this helicopter while in office.

Nonetheless, efforts have been underway to replace the helicopters, and potentially to acquire the new Pilatus aircraft, since before Jeff Landry assumed the governorship last year.

During Edwards’ last year in office in 2023, he and the Louisiana Legislature allocated $13 million “for the replacement of one helicopter.”

Jay Dardenne, Edwards’ budget chief, mentioned that there were talks about requesting funds to purchase a plane at that time, but that funding did not make it into the financial plan.

In the subsequent cycle, Landry and the Legislature allocated $8 million for a “replacement aircraft and associated outfitting and training expenses” – encompassing the acquisition of the Pilatus.

The funding for the helicopters originated from the state’s general fund, which may be utilized for any government-related purpose. In contrast, the finances for the new plane came from the state’s Riverboat Gaming Enforcement Fund, sustained by licenses and fees from gambling enterprises.

Political turbulence

Taxpayer-funded air travel can stir controversy.

The procurement of an $8 million aircraft for ferrying Democratic Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and other state officials raised some eyebrows earlier this year. Similar scrutiny has been directed towards Mississippi’s Republican Governor Tate Reeves’ taxpayer-subsidized flights to political functions.

Landry has faced his own controversy concerning air travel. The Republican neglected to report multiple flights he undertook on private planes belonging to political contributors while conducting state business during his tenure as attorney general.

The Louisiana Board of Ethics accused Landry of breaching state transparency regulations in a specific incident from 2021. Landry failed to disclose that he had traveled on a political benefactor’s plane to and from Hawaii to attend a conference for state attorneys general.

The Pilatus isn’t constructed to fly non-stop to Hawaii, or even to the West Coast, without refueling. Anthony remarked that the aircraft, which he estimates has a range of approximately 1,500 miles with a full tank, is best suited for regional journeys rather than cross-country or international travels.

This may render Landry less inclined to utilize the private aircraft of his friends and political donors — and facilitate maintaining his location private.

Landry and legislators enacted a new statute last year that might complicate access to his travel documentation with a state police aircraft.

The governor is now permitted to maintain the confidentiality of his schedule indefinitely if disclosing the information is believed to present a security threat to him or his family. However, the new statute isn’t intended to obstruct the release of “all records” related to the governor’s transportation.