from Chicago Tribune: Kraft Foods has agreed to purchase two corporate jets from its parent, Altria Group Inc., for more than $47 million, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Donna Sitkiewicz, a spokeswoman for Kraft, said the planes are not new acquisitions and have previously been used by Kraft.
Kraft is purchasing a 3-year-old Gulfstream IV-SP for $27 million and a 1-year-old Gulfstream 300 for $20.1 million. The two planes will remain at Westchester County Airport in White Plains, N.Y.
“We are a global company and there are times where our executives are required to travel,” said Sitkiewicz, noting executives use both commercial flights and corporate jets to handle their needs.
Both planes can seat eight passengers and provide non-stop transportation to Europe at speeds and altitudes higher than those available on a commercial jet.
However, Sitkiewicz said the jets principally will be used to shuttle executives between Kraft’s Northfield headquarters and East Hanover, N.J., where three of Kraft’s divisions are located.
Roger Deromedi, Kraft’s chief executive, would have been a regular passenger aboard the planes had he continued to live in Connecticut.
Deromedi, who was named CEO in December 2003, had been living in Connecticut and commuting weekly to Kraft’s Northfield headquarters until he and his wife purchased a home in Lake Forest in September for $8.3 million.
