Coronavirus funding: Private jet company founded by Trump donor gets $27m government bailout

Clay Lacy Aviation appears to have received the largest grant of any private jet company eligible for stimulus payments

A private jet company founded by a donor to President Donald Trump received nearly $27m in government funding under the $2trn CARES Act to counter the economic impact of the coronavirus.

Government filings show that Clay Lacy Aviation, a private jet charter company based in Van Nuys, California, received the payment from a program run by the Treasury Department.

The company appears to have received the largest grant of any private jet company on the list of recipients involved in air travel, CNBC reports. As a grant, not a loan, the money does not need to be repaid to the government.

Founder Clay Lacy gave $2,700 to the Trump campaign in 2016 — the maximum donation from an individual — and gave $47,000 to the Republican National Committee after Trump became the nominee, according to election filings.

The vast majority of the other 96 recipients of government funding or loans in the initiative, designed to compensate aviation industry workers and preserve jobs, are major commercial airlines, regional carriers, and their support companies.

Private aviation companies lobbied to be eligible for the relief package arguing that they support more than 1 million jobs and connect smaller communities without a major airport to the rest of the country. The 7.5 per cent excise tax on private jet flights was also suspended and funds for private jet terminals and other services were also allocated.

Clay Lacy Aviation charters its fleet of private jets to world leaders, businesses, government agencies, celebrities and sports teams.

Kyle Herrig, president of Accountable.US, a group that exposes government corruption, that first identified the grant and donations, said: “The entire country is hurting during this pandemic, but the president decided to award a campaign donor with $27m in free government money.”