Jackson Jambalaya

If, as has been told, parking fees are the main source of income for this airport, will they be discounted in this charge too?


Perhaps they should swim back?

Airfare to Paris, twelve nights of lodging and meals... if you can pull that off for a mere $5k per person, I'd be pretty impressed.

I flew back from the Paris Air Show with the Governor in 2013. Don't know who paid for his trip that year, but he at least had a plausible excuse to go. These turkeys... not so much.

Tickets were $1,300 or so on skycanner a couple of weeks ago when I checked. $5400 would probably cover the air fare and hotel if you knew how to do it right. Smart people don't get the hotels but the private apartments for rent. The employees are limited to the GSA limit of $140 per day per diem

That was a 15-yard shank punt on Junior's part KF. He's just as likely wanting to know why the board didn't find a way to include him on the junket.

"The trip received unanimous approval from the five Jackson Municipal Airport Authority commissioners at a board meeting March 25, the day before the airport CEO resigned."

Worth repeating.

The crime and urban decay of post-refuge Paris will make the JMAA board and other attendees feel right at home. Hopefully they utilize the same security precautions that they use here. Don't forget that Kim Kardashian was robbed in Paris. It is not uncommon for celebs to be robbed in Jackson.

They would've done better to call this boondoggle a team building exercise if they really want to deflect criticism.

Clowns gonna clown. The fault here lies with the person who put these people on the board and is shirking their oversight responsibilities. We do a horrible job of holding boards accountable. School boards are another notable example. I'm sure JJ readers are equally infuriated with our republican controlled legislature.

Show me a city run by Democrats and I'll show you a city in trouble. They just don't get it. They just don't see the big picture.

I hope they have budgeted for the good champagne, not the cheap stuff. After all, it's "their turn."

Why are their staffers going? To take notes? They will probably be told throughout the junket...err...important business trip, "don't write this down."

We're in the big house now!

I’d make these trip documents exhibit A in the trial for the state to take over the airport.

I’m sure JMAA will provide a list of the companies they are meeting with over the 12 days they will be in Paris (by the way the air show only runs for 6 days half of which are closed to public)

What possible business initiative would the JMAA have, that can only be addressed by sending 12 people to Europe for 12 days? Are they courting Air France to lease some gates at JAN? Who provides the oversight in such cases of shenanigans?

There is no doubt that the State should take control of the airport or wait til the dummies get some folks killed. I will not fly into Jackson again.

France???? Oh man! We thought they meant Paris, Texas. You gotta be kidding!
Oh well, since we already voted on it and since we do have some extra money, we might as well go.... It might not be too bad.

Our mistake, sorry.

I heard Rankin County was taking over the AIrport by emergency injunction as soon as the wheels are up.

Should be a change in ownership before they get back.

Do JMAA commissioners serve at the pleasure of the mayor? Can they be replaced at any time, or are they in for a fixed period of time? You know Jr wishes he could fire the lot of them.

With the absence of the total board and it’s director, who will actually run the airport? If so, is this in violation of bylaws of the board or any state or local law?

Also, do we get to change the sign at the airport entrance back to Jackson International while they are absent?

I understand there are numerous issues with the plumbing. Why is that not addressed before this shenanigan takes place?

Will they get to wear big hats?

Thank you,

Let’s out this junket in perspective. Federal and state employees and officials have been enjoying all expense paid trips to foreign destinations for decades. Some junkets are fruitful, and some not. However, the JMAA’s sending 10 folks to the Paris air show is clearly out of line. I’m fact, when one considers that the trip includes five additional expense paid days over and above the week long show puts this trip in the outrageous category. Even worse, the JMAA will pay for all travel related expenses. Literally that would mean anything the folks want to spend while in a Paris.

I have been to Paris three times on my own dime but never for more than seven days at a time. Unless the JMAA folks are going to share a HomeAway apartment and cook in, there is no way they can fly, stay and dine in Paris for 12 days at $5000 a person.

But the total cost is not the issue. It is the arrogance of believing that sending 10 folks to Paris for the air show is ok. It is not.

I wonder if there are actually ten free JMAA parking spots at the airport. If not, some of the staffers may have to take an expense paid Uber to and from or actually pay for parking. How inconvenient.

Ok, so I will give the junketeers a tip: The Louvre is closed on Tuesdays.

Maybe they will save the day and buy a new runway and ship it back to Jackson.

I spent 5 days in NYC recently and the cost for three hotel rooms for those five nights was $8100.00. I call BS on the Clarion Ledger's $50,000.00 "could cost" proclamation.

Don't over look this: Lumumba says he really can't criticize or high-five the trip since he is unaware of just what will take place or what they might be exposed to....Which opens the door for him to announce he will tag along...just to find out.

I have a lot of respect for Chairman James Henley. He is a very talented and smart man. However, I just don’t know why James would think this 10 person trip was something that could pass the sniff test. I can see two folks going for the length of the show but not more folks for 12 days. Absurd and arrogant.

@8:14 - boy, did you get screwed.

The only way they could justify the cost of this trip is if they come home with a Jackson to Paris non stop flight for $499 per person.

7:41 am they won’t be hanging out at the Louvre, they’ll be hanging out at the cheap souvenir stores and Hookah bars in Montmartre.

I could stay in Paris for $5,000 in 12 days but I stay in quaint little hotels recommended by Rick Steves and lunch is usually a Croque Monsieur on a park bench for me. I doubt that they will be as frugal as me since the City is picking up the tab.

This whole debacle has nothing to do with 'need to go' or 'cost-benefit analysis'. It's all about 'we in charge' and we can gone do it 'because we can'.

Pure and simple. Now move on. There are potholes we need to be naming.

The amount of expenditure, be it $50,000 or $500,000, is not the real question. The real pre-approval question is or ought to be, "Specifically and in detail, what are the goals and justification for each and every person, board member and/or employee, going to the Paris Air Show?" The post-trip question ought to be, "Specifically and in detail, explain how the previously established and documented goals and justifications for each and every person traveling were or were not reached." If that minimum requirement cannot be met, no one from the airport ought to go to Paris. If substantive and justifiable pre-trip goals are defined and detailed and not substantially met, the board ought to be replaced for mis/malfeasance and the employment status of each and every traveling employee reviewed.

The Jackson Airport is one of the few in the nation that only allows 15 minutes of free parking. I guess that the extra fees will pay for the Paris Airshow trip. You can't get a parking place, walk to the terminal and pick up a passenger or lost luggage in 15 minutes. Another reason why the airport is so unfriendly for the public. I can see one person going to the show for business but 10 is a scam. Please State of Mississippi take over the whole operation and get these no nothings off the board.

From Dr. Strangelove:


President Merkin Muffley:
General Turgidson! When you instituted the human reliability tests, you assured me there was no possibility of such a thing ever occurring!

General "Buck" Turgidson:
Well, I, uh, don't think it's quite fair to condemn a whole program because of a single slip-up, sir.

I have a (rhetorical) proposal:

These folks are allowed to go if they foot the bill for entire trip. Then, when they return, they get a percentage of all the money their trip produces for the airport as not only reimbursement on their worthwhile out-of-pocket investment, but a fairly-earned profit as well. If a smart businessperson were offered such a deal and he or she were just reasonably confident in both their abilities and prospects for ROI, they'd jump on it in a minute. In broad terms such capital expenditure "deals" are undertaken by thousands of businesspeople every day, so why shouldn't the airport board and personnel not relish such an offer (again, rhetorically)?

8:55 You obviously overlooked, Chairman Henley is Reverend Henley now. That should explain everything. Rev. Ike would be proud.

Hmmm....looks like Phil-Billy is getting in on the action before it is too late: "Governor-led Business Development Mission to Ireland with optional stops in Belgium and Netherlands, June 18-25, 2019". What company is going to cut a deal with a lame duck Governor? I guess we should all look the other way on this one, though. Move along. Just smell the roses.

The Governor has led several MDA delegations to the air show over the years. Guess you didn't read what I wrote.

3:04PM said/asked:

"Hmmm....looks like Phil-Billy is getting in on the action before it is too late: 'Governor-led Business Development Mission to Ireland with optional stops in Belgium and Netherlands, June 18-25, 2019.' What company is going to cut a deal with a lame duck Governor?"

Lame duck has nothing to do with it. Does anyone seriously think that companies in Ireland (and "optionally" Belgium and the Netherlands) are longing to do business in Mississippi and the only thing holding them back is that the boards/owners of those companies are breathlessly awaiting Philbilly and his posse to personally show up and lead them by the hand to the business paradise that is Mississippi. Wherever company money can be invested to produce a profitable return, companies are seeking to grab a piece of the action without any woo-pitching by redneck government officials.

I read what you wrote but my point is the timing of it. I support the Governor as the state CEO being out there drumming up business. But the fact that he is going out of office (i.e., lame duck) means no one he meets with will negotiate with him knowing the next CEO could change the deal. Therefore, a junket.

Board members should not worry about new business. They should focus on airport maintenance. They have been working on one of the runways for almost three (3) years. How long does it take to repave a runway? How many airlines want to come to a one runway facility?