FBI Director Christopher Wray Summons Bureau’s Jet To D.C.-Area Airport To Dodge Traffic: Whistleblower

When FBI Director Christopher Wray wants to use the bureau’s $60 million Gulfstream G550, he typically summons it to nearby Reagan National Airport instead of being driven 30 miles to the regional airport where it’s kept, a whistleblower told The Daily Wire, describing a costly habit paid for by U.S. taxpayers.

The Daily Wire has records that show the aircraft flew for approximately 15 minutes between its base and the airport. Manassas Regional Airport, Virginia, has been used 140 times by Washington, D.C., airports since 2020. The Daily Wire was informed by the whistleblower, a suspended FBI agent, that local trips are being made in order to save Wray (and possibly other bureau bigwigs) from the 45-minute drive from Manassas to and from their respective flights.

“The FBI jet is being used, I believe, in a grossly mismanaged way,” The Daily Wire spoke to Kyle Seraphin who was fired from the FBI last year. “Chris Wray has a jet fly from Manassas, Virginia, to Reagan National Airport, because he doesn’t want to sit in traffic.”

Seraphin was told by security agents at the bureau that Wray has been picked up by the Gulfstream jet from Reagan National since 2017, possibly because Congressional members have confirmed him as the bureau director.

From the 140 trips between Manassas and larger regional airports, 124 were to or from Reagan National, the closest major airport to the bureau’s Pennsylvania Avenue headquarters. Nine were either to or from Dulles International Airport, some 26 miles from downtown Washington, and five flights involved Baltimore–Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. Two other flights landed in specific locations in the nation’s capital.

“[Wray] does it simply because he doesn’t want to be inconvenienced by traffic on I-66,” Seraphin spoke.

The Daily Wire gathered flight records covering the period April 2020 to the present. It showed the trip starting from Manassas to Reagan National can be completed in as little as six minutes. While the FBI declined to say how much the bureau spends on the short flights, The Daily Wire spoke to an aviation expert, who requested anonymity due to the nature of the story, about operational costs for a Gulfstream G550 in an effort to estimate how much it costs taxpayers to spare Wray from being driven back and forth.

According to a source, private sector costs for flying the jet are between $7,000 and $11,000 an hour. This includes fuel, landing fees and other costs. The jet fuel tanks of the Gulfstream G550 hold approximately 6,000 gallons. It burns about 500 gallons per hour and most fuel is used at takeoff or landing, according to the source. According to an aviation expert, the shorter the flight is, the more cost-effective it will be.

A Gulfstream 550 can take a 15-minute flight and burn 223 gallons of fuel. This is according to the source. Shorter flights use up to 70% more fuel than long ones. Jet fuel prices change wildly. They can drop as low at 61 cents per gal in April 2020, and reach $4.12 in June 2022. Fuel costs to fly from Manassas, Virginia to Reagan are $780 at the current market price of $3.50 per gallon.

However, there are significant other costs. Signature Flight Support, which handles general aviation services at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, told The Daily Wire that the average landing fee varies per aircraft. Representatives said that the average landing fee for those who are registered under a waiver program for government officials is $2,500. It was unclear how much the bureau pays for landing fees at Reagan National or surrounding D.C. airports or whether it has to pay both when picking up Wray and other officials.

Source cautioned that there may be other variables and costs that are not easily estimated from the information available.

Officials from Manassas Regional Airport said the FBI does not pay landing fees. This apparently makes it more costly for Wray’s flight to its home base.

Wray was not aware of how many short flights were made in order to make it possible. The FBI stated that Wray does not use the jet to avoid traffic.

“The FBI is not going to comment on specific plane locations because of operational and security sensitivities,” The bureau statement stated. “The FBI Director’s use of FBI aircraft is long-established and continues due to the mission needs of the FBI and the FBI Director’s security requirements.”

Wray’s use of the bureau’s jet came under heavy scrutiny last year when the New York Post investigation Wray was able to see that the Gulfstream made eight trips within the four-month period from Houston to Atlanta.