The UT System Board of Regents unanimously approved a motion Wednesday to authorize the purchase of a new aircraft in light of Federal Aviation Administration guidelines.
The decision made $6 million available for the purchase of a new plane. These funds will come from reserves in the UT System that do not come from tax-payer dollars, system officials said.
The system owns an airplane to fly presidents and other officials from system institutions as well as regents to in-state and out-of-state meetings. Athletics officials also use the plane when recruiting new athletes.
Tonya Brown, vice chancellor for administration for the UT System, recommended that UT sell its King Air B-200 and replace it with a newer, but still used, King Air 350.
The system said that it will be more cost-effective to purchase a new aircraft rather than repair the old one, which was purchased in 1982. The aviation administration requires an engine replacement on the system's current airplane in the next three to six months.
"Operating our own plane has proven to be very cost-effective," Brown said.
Operating costs for the last fiscal year were $248,000, and much of that was reimbursed by other UT institutions, Brown said. Under an agreement with the Texas Department of Transportation, UT must allow other Texas agencies, such as the Texas Education Agency, to use the plane if it's not in use and TxDOT is using all of its own airplanes.
"Many of our flights are to locations where it is difficult, if not impossible, to achieve same-day travel," Brown said. Among these locations she cited Brownsville, Tyler and the Permian Basin.
She said several large commercial airlines are also cutting the number of direct flights they make from Austin and are grounding older, less fuel-efficient planes, and those cuts can be expected to last into the future.
Regents Vice Chairman Robert Rowling added that it was important for UT to retain its own plane because many flights go to areas not served by commercial carriers.
