Mitt Romney Spent Thousands on Private Planes

The Mitt Romney campaign spent nearly $100,000 more on private planes than commercial flights during the third fundraising quarter, according to financial disclosure reports made public today.

The campaign spent $233,911 on three private aviation companies listed in the report as “air travel.” Marquis Jet Partners, described on its website as “the gold standard for private aviation,” was paid more than $135,000 by the campaign.

Commercial airlines didn’t get as big of a payout from the Romney group. Ten different airlines were flown, but cost the campaign far less than the private digs, totaling $134,228.

Southwest Airlines, which was featured in an August tweet by Romney, who thanked his flight crew for an “easy flight,” received $14,212 of Romney’s money.

In public, Romney has made every effort to shed his multimillionaire image that some say makes his battle to relate to the average voter even harder. According to public finance records, Romney is worth between $190 and $250 million.

Since launching his campaign in June, Romney has used Twitter to publicize events such as his flight on Southwest. Another published tweet showed the candidate eating a Subway sandwich and another depicted Romney eating in a fast food restaurant with his family.

But none of these tweets mentioned anything about the private flights that today’s financial records expose.

A spokeswoman for the campaign did not immediately respond to a request for a comment.