DrugAir: Why Pfizer Execs Are Addicted to Their Fleet of 9 Private Aircraft
Pfizer (PFE) is trying to sell a corporate jet as it heads into a period of lower revenues following the imminent patent expiration on its no. 1 product, the cholesterol drug Lipitor. Although Pfizer is heading into a period of austerity, don't believe that the jet sale is a sign of management belt-tightening: history -- and CEO Jeff Kindler's contract -- both show that Pfizer brass will be flying on BlingAir for a long time to come.
Pfizer lowered its revenue guidance for 2010 by $1 billion to $67 to $68 billion in its Q3 2010 earnings report, and expects revenues to sink as low as $65.2 million in 2012. (Pfizer pfollowers should expect further downward revisions of those numbers as time goes by -- the company has made a habit of continually lowering its revenue expectations since acquiring Wyeth.)
One Pfizer jet, the 2003 Gulfstream G550 (Reg #N4CP) is officially up for sale. This is deja vu all over again: In June 2009 Pfizer attempted to sell two jets -- but then the Wyeth acquisition kicked in and no sale actually occurred. Rather, the opposite happened: Pfizer came into possession of Wyeth's jets (or its contracts for jet travel). Pfizer now controls a fleet of nine corporate airplanes aircraft*: two it owns directly and seven that it owns through Charlie Papa, a subsidiary.
The Gulfstream is a nice plane, as these images (click to enlarge) from the sale document show. Their amenities include:
- Honeywell HD710 High Speed Data System with EMS CNX200 Router/Gateway
- Six (6) Plug-In 5.6" LCD Monitors
- Vision Safe EVAS
- Magnastar C-2000 Radio Telephone
- Airshow Genisis
- Dual DVD
- CD Player with FM/AM Stereo
20" Forward Bulkhead Monitor- 15" Monitor Located Left Side Aft Cabin
- Magnastar Phone System
- Dual DVD Player
- CD Player
- Printer / HP Color Laser Wireless Networked
- A TIA coffee maker and fridge
Given Kindler's gold-plated travel requirements, the chances of Pfizer getting out of the airline business completely are slim.
*Correction: They're not all planes. Two of them are jets, one is a small plane, and the others are helicopters. Apologies for the error.
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