Up To 50% Drop in Fuel Sales at Local Airports
Mojave - The worldwide skyrocketing gas price is effecting everybody – including aviation. In the “Aerospace Valley”, flying is bread and butter business, but the operational cost of any airplane increased dramatically. Is this trend killing our local airports?
Bob Rice, the Operational Manager of the Mojave Spaceport, signals a significant drop in their fuel sales: “At least twenty five percent per month, sometimes even fifty percent. We sell a lot less than we used to do….”
Of course, next to land leases, fuel sale is one of the major revenue sources for airports such as Mojave. Bob Rice: “Our commercial operators such as the National Test Pilot School still fly as much as necessary, but high fuel price is eating up their profits.”
Whoever you meet at the fuel pump, everybody is complaining. Some private pilots cut down their flying hours from fifty to one hundred hours per year to not more than ten to twenty hours per year. Especially owners of bigger planes, they can barely afford fifteen to twenty five gallons fuel per hour to fly for a lunch to Santa Barbara. “There is no more ‘one hundred dollar hamburger’, as pilots used to joke, they cost maybe two hundred dollars if you consider the fuel price increase”, a private pilot at the Fox Airport stated.
When you land at the California City Airport, the first sign you spot at the Terminal Building is “California City – Aviation Fuel Price Leader”. Cal City always wanted to attract aircraft business with cheap fuel. But fuel that is not cheap anymore - even not at the Cal City airport.
The field shows it. Just a few local planes, mostly gliders. Not much traffic anymore, despite the still “relatively cheap” airplane fuel. There are still recreational pilots coming to Cal City from Van Nuys, Lancaster or Santa Barbara – just to buy fuel at $3.79 per gallon. Why? Because at their location, the fuel price is even higher. In Santa Barbara $5.50 per gallon by far.
David Evans, a local CPA and Realtor who flies a popular Cessna 182RG:”I am cutting on my personal flights drastically. Just imagine, eighty gallons in my tank at five dollars or more per gallon!”
However, a quite different story with his business flying. He has clients in Reno, Las Vagas, and the Bay Area. The conservatively calculated operational cost of his plane jumped from about $150 per hour just a year ago – to over $200 today. Evans:” I must forward the additional fuel cost to my clients. They have no choice but to accept it….”
Similar situation at local flight schools such as Barness Aviation in Lancaster. Their business actually did not suffer under the high fuel price. As Andy Ma, Director of Operations, says: ”We add a fuel surcharge of two to three dollars per hour to all small airplane rentals.” Since the AV economy is running strong, most customers accept this surcharge freely.
Lancaster’s Airport Café “Foxy’s Landings” does not see much of an business impact also – for a completely different reason, the business owner Joudi Alsaady says. “Despite being at the airport, we do not depend very much on the fly-in customers as expected.” Their main customer base are locals who do not need to fly in order to visit the café.
Steve Irving, Fox Airport manager, confirms that the recreational flying in and out of the airport has slowed substantially. Irving:”The aviation fuel price has doubled in less than four years. This has an effect on our airports.” For most of personal “just for fun flights”, this means less flying. $4.10 for a gallon is harsh.
Lancaster’s airport manager points out some of the additional dangers for the aviation resulting from the aviation fuel market. What most people don’t know is that there is just a couple of gas companies involved in AVGAS. For them it is not very profitable to produce this specialized fuel because they don’t have any specialized plants to do that. Irving”: They must close their refinery and clean all lines – before they produce aviation fuel. There is no continuous production of aviation fuel in the US at all….”
One more danger: There is only one company specialized in manufacturing the lead for AVGAS – and this company is located in the UK. Not really comfortable for the market….
Interestingly, there is one commercial operator who is not surprised about the skyrocketing avgas price: Van Pray, owner of two planes and the largest skydiving company in the area. Van: “I bought my house in the sixties for $16,000, today can I sell it for $250,000. The fuel price increase is much less than the gain in the real estate market….”
However, the operational expenses of an airplane aren’t usually paid through real estate profits but depend on the monthly income, and the salaries did not keep up it’s pace with the real estate or fuel markets.
Some pilots are coping with the problem by sharing a plane. “This is the only way for us to continue flying”, says Rod Bronson who came from Santa Paula to Rosamond with a Cessna 205, his friend, and a tent. They save on a hotel by camping overnight at small airports. Rod shares his 1964 six-seater with four of his friends. An additional effect of skyrocketing fuel prices.
A relief in sight? “Not really”, Bob Rice thinks. There will be many different effects on the general aviation soon to take effect: Higher operational expenses, less flying, and more light, small and cheaper to operate planes such as the latest FAA category called “LSA” (light sport airplane). Cutting corner to keep flying.