Friday — April 9, 2004

‘Problem’ celebrity loses his jet charter

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By PAT MURPHY
Express Staff Writer

This may come as a surprise to an unidentified celebrity who uses a jet charter service to travel to Sun Valley:

He or she is no longer welcome aboard the charter’s aircraft and the company no longer will provide a jet for that person’s travels.

For now, the identity of this celebrity who apparently has a home in the Wood River Valley remains a secret.

Friedman Memorial Airport Manager Rick Baird revealed the dispute between the celebrity and the charter service while discussing one of six reported complaints about aircraft noise during March.

The airport staff received a complaint from a resident in Woodside adjoining the Hailey airport after a so-called Stage II jet’s takeoff 15 minutes after the voluntary noise abatement curfew of 11 p.m. Stage II jets have older, noisier engines.

Tracking down the jet registration, Friedman airfield operations manager Peter Kramer contacted the aircraft’s San Francisco operators.

Kramer was told, as Baird reported to the airport authority board during its monthly meeting Tuesday, that "the charter service that operated this flight was horrified to know the problem it caused ‘and’ were very apologetic and assured us it would never happen again.

"The customer," Baird continued in his report, "was a very high profile celebrity who has caused a problem at the airport in the past.

"The company assured us that they would never again fly this individual anywhere as the individual also treated them badly."

Baird said the charter pilots "simply wanted to get home after a long and difficult day."

Baird would not reveal the name of the celebrity or the charter service. But he said the charter service said in the future their pilots would remain overnight in the Wood River Valley rather than violate the curfew.

He said the voluntary noise abatement program has worked because the airport staff does not identify curfew offenders and uses persuasion to enforce proper operations.

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