Illinois Having a Tough Time Selling State Planes

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn has been making a big deal about his decision to sell about half of the state's fleet of aircraft to save money. He even mentions it in one of his recent TV ads.

Perhaps it's a strategy to partially blunt attacks that Quinn frequently uses state aircraft to fly to and from his home in Chicago to the Capitol and has not made good on a promise to live in Springfield. Last year he logged more than 21,000 miles in the air.

In any case, there's a big problem with trying to make political hay about the move --apparently nobody wants to buy the planes. The Pantagraph reports:

After not finding any takers among local governments or universities for the eight airplanes and one helicopter, officials offered the aircraft to the general public through an eBay-style online auction.

At the close of the bidding Monday, however, only two of the planes received bids.

The only planes that sold Monday were the two cheapest of the fleet. That would be a 1975 single-engine Cessna bought for the low, low price of $67,000 and a 1967 single-engine Cessna that sold for $62,594.

That's a far cry from the $7 million is savings the Governor has been touting.

So what's next?

Illinois Department of Central Management Services spokeswoman Alka Nayyar said the unsold planes will be re-listed for auction with a new closing date of Dec. 15.

That means after taking credit for selling planes and saving the taxpayers millions of dollars, the best the Governor will do before Election Day is $130,000 in proceeds. Something about counting chickens and hatching comes to mind.