LOS ANGELES -- At nearly 3 a.m., William L. McComb stands coatless on a chilly airport sidewalk, waiting to collect a rented Volvo. The chief executive of Liz Claiborne Inc. left his midtown Manhattan office about 13½ hours ago, and must lead an important conference call in three hours.

With a corporate jet, "I would have long ago landed and been at my hotel," Mr. McComb says wearily. The boyish-looking executive, who turned 46 Monday, flies nearly 200,000 miles a year, all of them on commercial flights, almost always in coach.

That makes Mr. McComb unusual, given that many CEOs of major companies travel on corporate jets. Proponents say corporate planes offer executives safety, convenience and rapid access to remote locales.

Company aircraft are a flying office and "a day extender for me," says James E. Rogers, CEO of Duke Energy Corp. , a Charlotte, N.C., utility that owns two jets and a helicopter. After flying to White Plains, N.Y., for a business dinner this month, "I got back on the [Duke] plane and I was home by 10:30 p.m.," Mr. Rogers recalls.

But public anger and tough times mean more CEOs may soon be joining Mr. McComb on commercial flights. The heads of the Big Three car makers provoked a firestorm of criticism from lawmakers by traveling to Washington on private jets in November to plead for federal help.