General Motors Corp. has been thinning its corporate jet fleet. Ford Motor Co. continues to explore ways to curtail travel expenses. And Chrysler LLC doesn't even own planes anymore.

The CEOs of Detroit's Big Three didn't mention those facts this week when lawmakers chastised them for arriving in Washington on pricey corporate jets to appeal to lawmakers for $25 billion in emergency loans.

"From a PR standpoint, it was a nightmare," said Michael Layne, a partner in Marx Layne, a public relations firm in Farmington Hills.

On Friday, GM said that it was in the process of turning in two aircraft after letting two go in September. The automaker began the year with seven leased aircraft, said spokesman Tom Wilkinson. GM did not say whether it is breaking the leases and did not provide details about the type of aircraft its executives fly. "This is strictly the result of drastic cutbacks in travel around the globe," Wilkinson said, noting that engineers who might have flown before are now holding conference calls.

Chrysler no longer owns any corporate jets. It started selling them in 2001 as part of a turnaround effort while it was part of DaimlerChrysler AG. The last two planes were sold in January, said spokeswoman Shawn Morgan.

Chrysler leases or charters planes as needed, Morgan said, and usually tries to make sure they're full. At times, the planes have carried sick children and their families to Detroit hospitals from other cities, she said.

Layne said Chrysler's decision not to mention its charitable acts made sense. "It was not the appropriate time to counter," he said, and might have come across as self-serving. "But they should have said they sold their planes."

A spokesman said Ford is exploring all cost-effective solutions for air travel. Those options could include selling some or all of its aircraft. Ford owns five planes. Four planes have been sold since 2005, and the use of corporate aircraft has been halved since then.

The executives' use of private aircraft became a symbol of corporate excess on Capitol Hill.

During testimony, U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., asked GM CEO Rick Wagoner, Ford CEO Alan Mulally and Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli to raise their hands if they had flown to Washington commercially to ask for financial aid. None did.

And none agreed when Sherman asked if they would sell their jets and book commercial flights home as a show of good faith.

"It's almost like seeing a guy show up at the soup kitchen in a high hat and tuxedo," quipped Rep. Gary Ackerman, D-N.Y. "Couldn't you have downgraded to first class or something, or jet-pooled or something to get here?"

Corporate jets come with a hefty price tag.

GM spent $256,793 last year on personal use of the company planes by Wagoner, Chief Operating Officer Fritz Henderson and Vice Chairman Bob Lutz, according to a regulatory filing. The board of directors encourages the three to fly corporate for personal and business travel -- and allows spouses to travel.

Ford spent $752,203 in 2007 on Mulally's personal use of the company's aircraft, according to a regulatory filing. The company required Mulally to use corporate planes for all business and personal travel for security reasons, according to a regulatory filing. Family and guests could accompany him.

Ford also let Mulally's family and guests use the planes without him to "ease the burden of Mr. Mulally moving to southeast Michigan and away from his family in Seattle," the filing said.

That compares to $29,107 Ford spent last year on first-class commercial airfare for Ford Americas President Mark Fields' personal travel to his Florida home.

Layne said the auto executives should have been prepared to be abused during testimony, but he also said that "in the midst of a crisis, you can lose sight of the small things that can blow up and be a big PR faux pas." For auto executives "so accustomed to traveling in this manner, it never crossed their minds it would cast a bad impression," Layne said.

Corporate air travel may make sense in normal times, "but not in these unusual and emotional times," Layne said, even if commercial flights come with the risk of delay and more time away from the office during a crisis.