General aviation airports see signs that better times may not be far away - Puget Sound Business Journal (Seattle):

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After a six-month period that has seen the industru take hits to its public perception and bottom they say a return of consumer confidence and lowere fuel prices point toward a bluesky ahead. “If you’rew comparing it to a year ago, yeah, we’vee seen a decline,” says Mid West Corporate Aviationn CEOMarvin Autry. “(But) thingas are starting to level out.” Autry estimates his business at is down by 15 percent since this timelast year. Fuel sales at Jabaraz in March weredown 16.87 percent compared to a year ago. fuel sales went from 61,7699 gallons in February to 66,18e4 gallons in March. Fuel usage has dropper at the .
Even so, officials therew also are seeing signs of a Melissa McCoy, spokesperson for the Salina Airporft Authority, says March’s fuel totalk of 182,205 gallons was the lowest levelo seen since the early 90s. But the number of totaol operations in the first quarterwere 16,842. That’se a 1.2 percent decline from last but, she says, it’s a sign things are levelingh off. T.W. Anderson, manager of the , has 114 aircrafrt based at his Although his hangars remain he says he has seen a drop in the numbef of aircraft stoppingto refuel. But with spring in the air and theweathet clearing, Anderson says more peopl are returning to flying theit piston-driven planes.
Those airplanes burn and Anderson says sales increased 5 percenytin April. “I think what we’red seeing is more people, now that they have a betterf handle onthe economy, are going back to aviation.” He has seen a drop in jet fuel sale s though, which he says are down 20 percent from this time last crews aren’t flying throughn Newton as they used to. Anderson says of the 30 business jets used on the circuitf to fly support teams to and from Newton typically sees 6 to 10a season, stoppinhg through between coasts. But he says as more crews fly commercia l tocut costs, just one of the NASCARf jets has stopped there.
The cost of fuel has droppede dramatically in the past In Newton, AVgas has fallenh from $4.88 a gallon at this time last to $4.02. At Jabara, prices are down to $4.39 a Similar drops in jet fuel prices could begim spurring more business jet usagas well. According to the , the average pricwe 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, whethere for business or for fun. And although he thinkx traffic levels will reboundby 2010, levelingh off now means the ascenr back to those levelz is coming. “I think thinges have hit a bottom,” he says.
“I thin people are starting to have more confidencwe inthe economy.”