What FBOs Can Take Away from the NBAA S&D Conference
/By John L. Enticknap and Ron R. Jackson, Principals, Aviation Business Strategies Group
The transient business aircraft customer is still the lifeblood of FBO fuel sales. Attracting them to the FBO ramp is the primary reason the annual NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers (S&D) Conference is heavily attended by FBO owners and operators.
At this year's event, held January 19-22 in Tampa, Fla., we witnessed both a record crowd and a record number of exhibitors. More than 2,800 attendees were kept busy with 29 scheduled educational sessions and 517 exhibitors consisting mostly of FBOs displaying under fuel company banners.
It's truly a symbiotic relationship. The schedulers and dispatchers benefit from numerous educational sessions and scholarships provided by various aviation services companies. The FBOs get to network and meet face to face with the S&D contingency to make a positive impression in order to attract their coveted turbine aircraft fleet.
Of note is the splendid job of the Schedulers and Dispatchers Committee, along with the NBAA, in putting together and running an excellent conference. Every year seems to get better. Hats off to their tireless chairperson for this year's S&D, Eve Gregory, flight services manager, C&S Aviation.
As we conversed with many of the exhibiting FBOs, we were able to get a feel for some of the top opportunities, issues and concerns facing the FBO industry. In order of ranking, with No. 1 being the liveliest topic, we believe the following statements represent the overall opinion of each topic:
Tankering of fuel and more efficient aircraft
- Although we will probably see a slight increase in uplifts this year, we are also seeing a few of the larger customers purchasing fuel at previous stops or tankering fuel from their home base through to their destination.
- We are a transient/resort destination. There is a lower percentage of aircraft taking fuel now than there used to be.
Aging GA owners
- General aviation is losing people that fly. This hurts our Avgas sales. A lot of the old timers are aging out, and there aren't as many younger pilots and owners taking their place due to high costs of airplane ownership.
Facility fees on rise
- There's going to be a bigger spotlight put on the cost of providing facility services that was previously paid via fuel sales. With FBOs dealing with contract fuel pricing and better fuel management by aircraft operators, we are going to have to charge ramp, parking and facility fees.
Contract fueling
- Now more than ever, an FBO seems to have to compete with low contract fuel prices. Also, courtesy fuel purchases are disappearing.
Better customer service
- An FBO that provides a better customer service experience, one that exceeds expectations of the client to some degree, will be fine in this coming year.
Lower fuel prices
- Lower fuel prices have contributed to higher fuel margins if we manage these margins wisely. However, the higher margins are countered by the increased salary that is necessary to keep skilled and experienced workers.
- With lower fuel prices, it proves that fuel is becoming more and more a commodity and no longer the stable source of operational revenue relied on by FBOs for many years.
In addition to attending the S&D Conference, we also released the results of our Annual FBO Fuel Sales Survey. Please click here to see the results.
If you would like to add a comment about the opportunities, issues and concerns facing the FBO industry, please do so at the end of this blog in the comment section.
In addition, we cover many of these topics in detail at our Annual NATA FBO Success Seminar scheduled for March 8-9 in New Orleans. We urge all FBO owners, operators, managers and supervisors to attend this seminar and participate in lively discussions on these topics and others.
About the bloggers:
John Enticknap has more than 35 years of aviation fueling and FBO services industry experience. Ron Jackson is co-founder of Aviation Business Strategies Group and president of The Jackson Group, a PR agency specializing in FBO marketing and customer service training. Visit the biography page or absggroup.com for more background.
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