In eight minutes on Thursday, General Motors shed one of the items that piqued Congress last fall: its fleet of leased corporate jets. During what was only GM's second appearance in bankruptcy court since it filed for Chapter 11 on June 1, the company won approval from a federal judge in New York to terminate the leases of the jets, as well as that of a hangar at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport in Romulus, which the company has held since 1984. Included in the fleet are two Gulfstream Vs and five Gulfstream IVs. Cutting contracts is routine for companies in bankruptcy protection. The 11 a.m. hearing was attended by no more than 25 or so people, a stark contrast from the standing-room-only crowd at GM's first hearing. Robert B. Weiss, a lawyer for GM, raised the motion and asked Judge Robert E. Gerber whether he had received the brief. He had. 'I don't think you need to say anything more,' Gerber said. By 11:08 a.m., the hearing had concluded. How uncontroversial was the decision on Thursday? GM's motion was uncontested. In fact, a lawyer for the company's committee of unsecured creditors heartily backed the decision. But the use of corporate jets by GM, Chrysler and Ford Motor last November to fly to Washington -- as their leaders sought financial lifelines from Congress -- provoked wellsprings of outrage. 'Couldn't you all have downgraded to first class or jet-pooled or something, to get here?' Rep. Gary L. Ackerman, D-N.Y., demanded of the companies' chiefs. 'It would have at least sent a message that you do get it.' Chastised, the executives made their second trip from Detroit to Washington in December in more politically palatable transportation: hybrid cars. 