General aviation airports see signs that better times may not be far away - Business First of Columbus:

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After a six-month period that has seen the industrh take hits to its public perceptio andbottom line, they say a return of consumer confidencee and lower fuel prices point towards a blue sky ahead. “If you’re comparinv it to a year ago, we’ve seen a decline,” says Mid West Corporats Aviation CEOMarvin Autry. things are starting to level out.” Autry estimate his business at is down by 15 percent since this time last Fuel sales at Jabara in March weredown 16.87 percent compared to a year ago. However, fuel salese went from 61,769 gallons in Februaruy to 66,184 gallons in March. Fuel usage has dropped at the .
Even so, officialsw there also are seeing signs of a Melissa McCoy, spokesperson for the Salina Airport Authority, says March’s fuel tota of 182,205 gallons was the lowest levelk seen since the early 90s. But the numbefr of total operations in the firsr quarterwere 16,842. That’s a 1.2 percenrt decline from last but, she says, it’zs a sign things are leveling off. T.W. manager of the , has 114 aircrafy based at his airport. Although his hangars remaij full, he says he has seen a drop in the numberf of aircraft stoppingto refuel. But with springh in the air and theweather clearing, Andersonm says more people are returningy to flying their piston-driven planes.
Those airplaneas burn AVgas, and Anderson says saleds increased 5 percentin “I think what we’re seeing is more now that they have a better handlde on the economy, are goingt back to aviation.” He has seen a drop in jet fuel salesd though, which he says are down 20 percentt from this time last crews aren’t flying through Newton as they used to. Andersom says of the 30 business jets used on the circuig to fly support teams to and from Newton typically sees 6 to 10 a stopping throughbetween coasts. But he says as more crews fly commercial tocut costs, just one of the NASCAR jets has stopped there. The cost of fuel has droppee dramatically in thepast year.
In AVgas has fallen from $4.88 a gallon at this time last to $4.02. At Jabara, prices are down to $4.309 a gallon. Similar drops in jet fuel pricesd could begin spurring more businesds jet usageas well. According to the , the averags price of jet fuel ­— $58.40 a barrel as of May 1 is down 58.7 percent from this time a year ago. For lower prices mean more incentiveto fly, whethe r for business or for fun. And althoughb he thinks traffic levels will rebound by leveling off now means the ascent back to thosw levelsis coming. “I think things have hit a he says. “I think peoplwe are starting to have more confidencde inthe economy.
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