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Monday, June 9, 2008 At small regional airports,
gas prices ground planes By Peter
Reuell GateHouse
News Service David
Dinneen, airport manager, fuels an airplane at Mansfield Municipal Airport. With aviation gasoline costing $6 or more per gallon, managers of
small regional airports said they've started seeing fewer folks flying. "Right now, we're seeing it," said David Dinneen,
manager of Mansfield Municipal Airport. "I think people are being careful.
Where before they would just go burn a hole in the sky, they're trying to be a
little bit more careful and trying to plan their trips more." Though gasoline at the airport last week was priced at $5.35,
below the regional average, Dinneen said the fuel pinch is being felt all over. To cover the increasing cost of gas, Dinneen, co-owner of King
Aviation Mansfield, a flight school, said the school recently raised its rates
by $5 an hour. Nationwide, the story seems to be the same, said Chris Dancy,
media relations director of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots' Association. The organization recently surveyed its 415,000 members to gauge
the impact of fuel costs. Though results of the survey aren't yet available,
Dancy said anecdotal evidence strongly suggests gas prices are taking pilots
out of the cockpit. "We're hearing from businesses that sell aviation gasoline
that their fuel sales...are down," he said. "We're also hearing from
members, especially members who rent aircraft...are being much more careful
about going out. They're doing less purely pleasure flying." While the high price of fuel has caused some pilots to cut back on
their time in the air, few have stayed grounded for long, Dinneen said. "Flying is very similar to somebody that plays golf, or
boats, or that has some other type of hobby," he said. "When they
find something they are really into, and consumes them, they will do what it
takes to be able to continue to do what makes them tick." Marlborough Airport manager Bob Stetson discounted the effect high
gas prices might have on flyers. "I know there's been a slowdown, it's universal," he
said. "It's not just Marlborough, it's all the airports. (But) I can't
tell you fuel is the issue. As far as I'm concerned, it's not the issue. "The general aviation business has been tailing off for six
or seven years now," he added. "Everybody complains about the price
of gas. One has to consider, in anything like this, where your priorities are.
Is your time valuable? Then maybe you want to have an airplane, because you can
go from point A to point B in half the time. That's the issue. People who want
to fly are going to fly." |
