AAAE Meetings Give GA Players a Reality Check

The recent American Association of Airport Executives (AAAE) Air Service/Energy Task Force meeting and related Energy/Air Service summit enabled GA and commercial players to share operational changes they have made in order to sustain business in the wake of rising fuel prices.

According to a recent media statement, 98 percent of National Business Aviation Association (NBAA) members have made significant changes in their operations due to rising fuel costs. GA operators are tankering, particularly to California; slashing flight hours; and flying slower. They are also altering flight plans to land at airports with multiple FBOs in an effort to find competitive fuel prices. And they are spending more time researching efficient routes.

Ed Bolen, NBAA president and CEO, emphasized the disadvantages that GA players faced in their fuel strategies. “For the general aviation community, which has no opportunity for volume discounts, our operators are actually paying twice as much at the pump as the major airlines,” he said.

The task force meeting addressed the impact of rising fuel prices on air service. Some airports anticipate 10 to 20 percent reductions in service in 2008 compared to 2007. Others detail losses of 60 to 100 percent, according to the AAAE.

The summit, which took place the following day, drew 200 senior airline and airport representatives, federal agencies including the Department of Transportation and Federal Aviation Administration, energy sector officials and financial experts.

Although the events were arranged to address longer-term theories and federal energy policies, short-term strategies for saving fuel often dominated the sessions.