Coleman Questions Shapiro’s Frequent Flying in State Planes
State Senate Republicans are firing flak at Pennsylvania’s high-flying governor, questioning his frequent use of state-owned aircraft and what they say is a lack of transparency in how these flights are reported.
Gov. Josh Shapiro (D) will be up for reelection next year and pundits have speculated whether he might run for president in 2028, especially after he made Kamala Harris’ vice presidential short list for a running mate in 2024.
Sen. Jarrett Coleman (R-Bucks/Lehigh) published Shapiro’s flight logs for the Department of Transportation’s (PennDOT) private plane. Shapiro also uses the State Police aircraft, but logs were not available for those flights, Coleman said.
In 2024, flights for Shapiro and Lt. Gov. Austin Davis cost taxpayers than $300,000. Those flights included trips to throw out the first pitch for the third National League Division Series game, attend a Penn State vs. Michigan football game, flying the Shapiro family to Erie to see the solar eclipse, and a visit to Hilton Head, S.C.
Republicans also noted a taxpayer-funded flight to take Lt. Gov. Austin Davis from Pittsburgh to Harrisburg to preside over the Senate for just half an hour, before flying back.
According to state data, “The base cost for the use is $1,350 per block hour. A block hour is the elapsed time from when the airplane door is closed until it is opened at the destination. Additional charges include pilot charges consisting of the individual pilot salary per block hour, subject to overtime, subsistence and pilot lodging when applicable. Additional costs include incidental fees, including without limitation landing, hangar and de-icing fees.”
Republicans, as the saying goes, pounced.
“It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No… it’s @GovernorShapiro flying high on YOUR tax dollars. #ShapiroAirlines,” Senate President Pro Tem Kim Ward posted on X.
Coleman noted that the information, which should be available to the public, had to be uncovered by legislators.
“The information I posted on my website is only available because of extensive research my staff and I conducted by referencing Shapiro’s daily calendar, social media updates, and media reports. Taxpayers don’t have the time for all that legwork and shouldn’t have to play detective anyway,” Coleman said.
Coleman and the Senate Appropriations Committee have brought administration and former administration officials to testify about the flights.
While state law requires PennDOT to post the names of people on those flights, the logs frequently list people who were on the plane on a certain date, but not which specific flight.
“The data provided by PennDOT is woefully inadequate. The PennDOT logs are full of inaccuracies and omissions. These errors mask the true use of the airplane and thwart a comprehensive evaluation of their use,” Coleman said.
During questioning at the Appropriations Committee hearing on Thursday, Secretary of the Budget Uri Monson said it is difficult to read and understand the flight logs and promised to make them more transparent.
“It’s not that difficult. It’s a flight log,” Coleman told him.
State Police flights do not require passenger documentation, and Coleman said he would sponsor a law to change that. After being questioned by lawmakers and the media, Shapiro is voluntarily making those flight logs public going forward. However, Coleman said a law is needed since the next governor may not.
A memo by Dana Fritz, Shapiro’s chief of staff, outlined who gets dibs on the PennDOT airplane, with Shapiro and Davis having priority.
“Statewide elected commonwealth officials, members of the governor’s cabinet and senior staff, board and commission chairpersons and legislative leadership will be considered next in priority with the governor’s chief of staff’s approval. All other flight requests will be last in priority and must be approved by the respective agency head or a deputy secretary or equivalent senior agency manager on a first-come, first-serve basis,” the memo stated.
Also, “commonwealth aircraft are to be used when necessary for commonwealth business as determined by the requesting agency upon consideration of cost and need.”
PennDOT requested $10 million for two new airplanes in the governor’s proposed 2025-26 $51.5 billion state budget, up 7.5 percent from last year.
Coleman is also concerned that the state is self-insured. In case of an accident, Coleman worried whether people aboard the plane who are not state employees would be covered.
“Which is important to the people on the airplane and, if there was a crash, to the people on the ground,” Coleman said.
When asked about the insurance, Monson told Coleman he’d look into it.
A spokesperson for Shapiro did not respond to requests for comments about the governor’s airplane use.
