STENSLAND, JEFFREY G 15:36 PM (15 hours ago) * tome, WES = Lucas, ‘The university and athletics airalanes are important, but often misundetsiood, asses In bullding winning programs both inthe classroom and on the ‘held. The unNersty’s 1997 Beecncran king AIr 350 alfplane 's used primal for research and development inps and avallaple to tacully researchers and university officials. The airplane also is avaliable to athletics wnen theirs is otherwise in use or undergoing maintenance. ‘The university airplane alow’ for exible and reliable Scheduling of meetings wn Key donors and omicias trom federal agencies ike the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation and the Deparment af Energy. As you know, extemal funding is extremely important for lunivetsity operations, supporting research, scholarships for students, facully teaching and facilis. In FY 2017 alone, USC brought in a record ‘$268.6 milion in sponsored research award tuning and $133 millon In private conattons. “The use of a university a—plane offers several distinct advantages over commercial highs, including the ablty to quickly schedule fights and avoic expensive penalties charged by commercial ainines In tne event of late cancellations. The airplane also allows USC to scnequle mutipie in-state ‘lights not available through commercial airines. That flexibility makes tt possible for President Pastiies and others to travel to multiple campuses tnyoughout the USC system in te same day. This Is pariculally benefcial during commencement season whi ceremonies on multiple ‘campuses Furthermore, with a below market operational cost and scheduling of three or more passengers on most fights, the use of te unversty plane is also a cheaper option that commercial air travel in many cases, particularly since research and development ips are not scheduled months In advance tke personal irips—an airfare comparison trat requently gets made. “The university purchased the 1991 Beechcraft King Air 950 ‘tom USC Foundations for $1 in 2019. While the plane is not as xotic as the jets utlized by some of our SEC peers, it does have 2 proven track record for safely and refill. For example, the 350 model provide for greater climb ratio ‘han many other models, including the C90 you reference In your email, Clb ratlo Is an Important safety feature oWen many of ihe smaller aimelas we frequent. ‘The rate to use tne airplane Is $1,400 per Tight nour, which Is a standard rate throughout South Carolia state goverment. The $1,400 covers Tue, hangar tert and maintenance This rate is lower than the rate you cited from charter companies fora variety of reasons, including the fact that we are ‘non-profit and do not have fo recoup costs associated wih the airplane purchase. |ALUSC, we are commitied to being good stewards of every public and private dollar entrusted to cur care. The reason we ullize an airplane is the ‘same reason alher major universives across the nation do—it provides us with a tremendous relumn on investment thal we could nol realize stictly using commercial rignts. Hope this is helpful to you. Jett ‘Sent trom my Ipnone