WASHINGTON, February 5 – Bank of America said it has put up for sale three corporate planes and a helicopter owned by newly acquired Merrill Lynch, in a bid to save money.
"As part of an ongoing cost reduction effort, we have been scaling back on our use of corporate aircraft including selling three aircrafts we own and the Merrill Lynch helicopter," Bank of America spokesman Scott Silvestri said in an email to AFP.
Silvestri did not say how many aircraft the bank, which has received 45 billion dollars in taxpayer money in a government rescue, intended to keep.
According to CNBC business news network, Bank of America has the biggest fleet on Wall Street, with eight planes — each worth between 45 and 50 million dollars and costing 10,000 dollars per hour to fly.
The bank\’s headquarters are in Charlotte, North Carolina, a flight of about one hour and 40 minutes from New York.
Rival bank Citigroup abandoned its plan to buy a new company plane in late January after news of the intended purchase sparked a public furor. Citi also received a 45-billion-dollar government lifeline to shore up its defenses in the global financial crisis.
