CUSTODY, CONTROL, OPERATION, AND MAINTENANCE

(a) The department shall operate a pool for the custody, control, operation, and maintenance of all aircraft owned or leased by the state. (b) The department may purchase aircraft with funds appropriated for that purpose. (c) As part of the strategic plan that the department develops and submits under Chapter 2056, the department shall develop a long-range plan for its pool of aircraft. The department shall include the long-range plan in the department's legislative appropriations request if the department identifies the need for additional appropriations and the additional appropriations are related to the department's duties under this chapter. The long-range plan must include: (1) estimates of future aircraft replacement needs and other fleet management needs, including: (A) any projected need to increase or decrease the number of aircraft in the pool; (B) estimates of the remaining useful life for each aircraft in the pool; and (C) a proposed schedule for replacing aircraft in the pool; (2) a range of alternatives and scenarios for the number and types of aircraft in the pool; (3) an analysis of current usage of aircraft in the pool, including customer base and documented rationale for use; (4) the status of maintenance time and costs and projected future trends regarding maintenance time and costs; (5) any documented high-risk mechanical issues with aircraft in the pool; (6) an analysis of the costs and benefits of different methods for meeting air transportation currently provided by the department under Section 2205.036, including: (A) the potential use of statewide contracts for private charter aircraft services; (B) increased reliance on commercial carriers for routine travel; (C) decreasing the number of aircraft in the pool and increasing the use of contracted flight services; and (D) any other method the department considers feasible; and (7) an analysis of the impact of including capital recovery costs in the rates the department charges under Section 2205.040 that, at a minimum, includes the impact of those included costs on customer utilization and the department's schedule for replacing aircraft in the pool. (d) In developing the long-range plan, the department shall consider at a minimum for each aircraft in the pool: (1) how much the aircraft is used and the purposes for which the aircraft is used; (2) the cost of operating the aircraft and the revenue generated by the aircraft; and (3) the demand for the aircraft or for that type of aircraft. (e) The department shall update the long-range plan annually and make the plan available on the department's Internet website.