(CNN) Tom Price is apparently a big fan of private airplanes.

"In a sharp departure from his predecessors, Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price last week took private jets on five separate flights for official business, at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars more than commercial travel.

The secretary's five flights, which were scheduled between Sept. 13 and Sept. 15, took him to a resort in Maine where he participated in a Q&A discussion with a health care industry CEO, and to community health centers in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania, according to internal HHS documents."

Look. Private planes are great! (I flew on one while covering the 2005 gubernatorial campaign as Tim Kaine -- and then Democratic Gov. Mark Warner -- made a series of stops around the state in the fall of that race.) They are easier! You don't have to go through security! You can be on your phone!