As stores close, Starbucks buys a jet

By Melissa Allison
Seattle Times business reporter

Starbucks bought a $45 million corporate jet last month at about the same time it told employees that it is reconsidering how much it will match in their 401(k) plans this year.

The new jet, a Gulfstream 550, spent its first two weeks under Starbucks ownership in Hawaii, according to flight records at FlightAware.com.

Starbucks ordered the jet three years ago, according to spokeswoman Deb Trevino. She said the Seattle coffee company determined canceling delivery would be too expensive. She declined to say who took the jet to Hawaii over the holidays, but said it was a combined personal and business trip. She pointed out that Starbucks policy requires employees to reimburse the company for personal use of the jet. That policy was instituted in fiscal 2007, when Chairman Howard Schultz reimbursed the company $400,919 for flights.

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