Nordstrom Accused of Hiding Costs of Flying Family’s Planes

Nordstrom Inc. owns two jets, regularly leases two and employs either nine or 12 pilots, depending on who’s counting. A shareholder says there’s something’s wrong with that mix.

Lots of companies have planes to ferry employees around, and there’s nothing unusual about an executive taking a corporate aircraft on a non-business junket, a perk that’s often part of compensation. The Nordstrom twist is that its crews also fly, service and manage planes that belong to descendants of founder John W. Nordstrom. The claim in a lawsuit is that they’ve paid cut-rate fees for the use of company pilots and other aviation staff, and that directors sanctioned it.