Merck CEO Clark Gets a Helipad on Top of Old Schering HQ

(MoneyWatch)  The Kenilworth, N.J., planning board has approved a helicopter pad to be built for Merck (MRK) on top of a seven-story garage at the former Schering-Plough HQ. The company told the board:

... the helistop would be used only by top level executives and would serve to link the Kenilworth site to Merck locations in Rahway, Whitehouse Station, and Pennsylvania.

Which "top level executives" might that be? A look at Merck's most recent proxy form (see page 42) suggests that mostly it's CEO Richard Clark and hardly anyone else.

Clark's compensation included $30,867 for "Aircraft" and $26,404 for "Commuting." The other top executives at Merck have only minimal aircraft expenses, although president Kenneth Frazier racked up $30,821 in commuting expenses.

The odd thing is that in 2007 Clark got along just fine without his chopper: He only received $1,128 in aircraft expenses that year. Why did Merck's 'copter costs suddenly go through the roof? Because Merck bought a Sikorsky S-76C++ in 2008, according to Skycontrol.net.

Here's Merck's justification:

The Company believes that this benefit provides better security for executives and allows executives to devote additional time to Merck business.

And additional time to their spouses, who fly for free with them, Merck disclosed:

An executive's spouse may accompany the executive, in which case the spouse's personal use of the aircraft is considered a personal benefit to the executive.

Kenilworth residents living near the new Clark-convenient helipad might be interested in Merck's reassurances:

Explaining the flight plan for the site, [Merck's consultants said] helicopters would not flight over any homes in Kenilworth and the noise from flights would be equal to that of a truck passing by.

"A truck passing by"? I live near the Holland Tunnel that links New Jersey and New York, a flight corridor for commuter 'copters and news choppers. Believe me, helicopters are much louder than trucks even when they're not flying directly overhead. Health Care Renewal has been observing Merck's flights for years.

Here's the interior of a helicopter similar to Clark's, er, Merck's (is that a bar I see in back?):

Hat tip to A New Merck Reviewed.

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