Gov. Robert Bentley's office spent $621,712 on travel in state-owned airplanes in his first 21 months in office.
The Decatur Daily and TimesDaily obtained the figures by filing an open records request with the Bentley administration.
Most of the travel was on a six-passenger jet owned by the state Department of Transportation. That agency billed the governor's office $598,610. The remaining $23,102 was for using aircraft operated by two other state agencies.
Bentley's spokesman, Jeremy King, said the governor has to fly to be everywhere he needs to be. He said it's not unusual for him to have meetings in multiple cities in one day. He said Bentley's expenses are similar to the $527,280 that the Transportation Department charged during Gov. Bob Riley's first 21 months.
