Artists’ rendition. Actual size may differ.
For a company that does no evil (ignore its dealing with China), Google won’t be making any friends with this move. Or it will, what do I know? Four miles from the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., is Moffett Field, a NASA-run airport that’s usually closed to private jets. Google’s modified 767, on the other hand, is perfectly acceptable. Yup, Google’s founders (the plane is mainly used to shuffle those two around) get to use their aeroplane at an airport that other, also rich (but not as rich) executives cannot.
But there’s a catch. There always is.
NASA agreed to let Google use the off-limits runway in exchange for scientific research. It seems NASA will outfit the plane with all sorts of scientific doodads and widgets that collect data as the plane flies all over town. Win-win, as they say.
Naturally, other CEOs and “important” people are said to be jealous and the locals around the airport don’t like the prospect of the airport expanding, including fighting off FedEx and UPS and their plans to use it.
As Grampa Simpson once said, “Oh bitch, bitch, bitch.”
Google Founders’ Ultimate Perk: A NASA Runway [New York Times]