In fact, as the state budget crunch continues, constitutional officers as a whole are using the planes less, records show. In 2001, there were 209 flights by the state's top elected officials; last year there were 96.

"We're going to try and treat the taxpayers' money like it's your own. It's an expensive plane to fly, so I don't want to use it any more than I have to," Sanford says.

Sanford has insisted Cabinet-level officers use commercial flights or drive when feasible. He also told them to share hotel rooms on as many trips as possible.

Former Gov. Jim Hodges and his staff took 101 flights on the state's airplanes in his first nine months in office at a cost of $40,213, according to an analysis of state Commerce Department records by The Associated Press. Sanford, who took office in January, took 67 flights through September, costing $30,538.

Both men spent less than former Gov. David Beasley, whose flights on state planes and helicopters cost at least $59,000 during his first nine months in office in 1995.

By the time Beasley left office, he'd ordered five of the state's seven aircraft sold.

Sanford cited how little the state uses a co-owned jet recently after telling the Commerce Department to get out of that deal. The state entered the joint ownership deal as it sold its Learjet in April 2000.

Although the state paid $136,549 in management fees since July for the jet, it hasn't been used since May. "We saw that, and we sold it," Sanford said. The state has paid $623,457 in management fees since 2000 for the jet.

Along with the charges for the governor's office and other statewide officeholders, the four-year tab hits $998,000 for all state flights. The governor's office alone accounted for flights costing $338,307 since 1999. Commerce Department flights accounted for nearly all of the rest. The state owns one plane, a King Air 350 twin turboprop that can fly up to nine passengers from Columbia to Charleston in less than a half-hour.

Education Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum and former Attorney General Charlie Condon rank second and third behind Hodges and Sanford in state plane use.

Tenenbaum has taken 70 flights since taking office 1999 with total charges of $23,378. The trips include six with multiple stops. For instance, in April 2001 a plane started in Columbia and stopped in Myrtle Beach, Rock Hill and Greenville before returning to the capital. Education Department spokesman Jim Foster said trips like that reflected multiple meetings around the state where driving wouldn't have allowed Tenenbaum to meet her commitments.

Condon and his staff took 19 flights in 1999 that cost $11,120. Those trips included stops in Washington, D.C., where Condon argued Congress violated states' rights in barring sales of the personal information that appears on drivers' licenses.

   FLIGHTS IN S.C.'S STATE-OWNED PLANE
   Year             	 User	Flights 
   1999             	 Gov. Jim Hodges	119   
   1999             	 Superintendent Inez Tenenbaum	28   
   1999             	 Attorney General Charlie Condon	19   
   1999             	 Commerce Department	5   
   1999             	 Emergency Management	4   
   1999             	 Rep. Tom Rhoad, D-Branchville	2   
   1999             	 Rep. Jim Battle, D-Nichols	1   
   1999             	 Treasurer Grady Patterson	1   
   
   2000             	 Hodges	158   
   2000             	 Tenenbaum	14   
   2000             	 Commerce Department	2   
   2000             	 Rep. Bill Bowers, D-Brunson	1   
   2000             	 Rep. Harry Ott, D-Matthews	1   
   
   2001             	 Hodges	195   
   2001             	 Tenenbaum	14   
   2001             	 Sen. Larry Grooms, R-Bonneau	5   
   2001             	 Sen. John Land, D-Manning	3   
   2001             	 Sen. Bob Waldrep, R-Anderson	2   
   2001             	 House Speaker David Wilkins, R-Greenville	2   
   
   2002             	 Hodges	86   
   2002             	 Tenenbaum	10   
   
   2003             	 Hodges and Gov. Mark Sanford	78   
   2003             	 Tenenbaum	4   
   2003             	 Rep. Billy Witherspoon, R-Conway	2   
   2003             	 Sen. Ronnie Cromer, R-Prosperity	1   
   2003             	 Rep. Jeff Duncan, R-Clinton	1   
   2003             	 Sen. Danny Verdin, R-Laurens	1   
   
   Source: State Department of Commerce Aeronautics Division.
   

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