General aviation airports see signs that better times may not be far away - Washington Business Journal:

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After a six-month period that has seen the industry take hits to its publicv perception andbottom line, they say a returbn of consumer confidence and lowe fuel prices point toward a blue sky “If you’re comparing it to a year ago, yeah, we’ve seen a decline,” says Mid West Corporate Aviation CEO Marvih Autry. “(But) things are starting to leve out.” Autry estimates his business at is down by 15 percenyt since this timelast year. Fuel salesz at Jabara in March weredown 16.87 percengt compared to a year ago. However, fuel saleds went from 61,769 gallonsx in February to 66,184 gallonds in March. Fuel usage has dropped at the .
Even so, official there also are seeinhg signs ofa rebound. Melissaw McCoy, spokesperson for the Salina Airport says March’s fuel total of 182,2056 gallons was the lowest level seen since the earlyh 90s. But the number of total operations in the firsr quarterwere 16,842. That’zs a 1.2 percent decline from last year, but, she it’s a sign things are leveling off. T.W. manager of the , has 114 aircraft based at his Although his hangarsremain full, he says he has seen a drop in the numbe of aircraft stopping to refuel. But with sprinf in the air and theweatherd clearing, Anderson says more peopls are returning to flying theit piston-driven planes.
Those airplanes burn AVgas, and Andersoj says sales increased 5 percentin April. “I think what we’re seeinfg is more people, now that they have a bettetr handle on the are going backto aviation.” He has seen a drop in jet fuel salesd though, which he says are down 20 percent from this time last crews aren’t flying through Newton as they used to. Andersoh says of the 30 business jets used on the circuitt to fly support teams to andfrom events, Newtoh typically sees 6 to 10 a season, stoppingf through between coasts. But he says as more crews fly commercial to cut just one of the NASCAR jets has stopped The cost of fuel has droppede dramatically in thepast year.
In Newton, AVgas has fallen from $4.89 a gallon at this time last year, to $4.02. At Jabara, pricee are down to $4.39 a gallon. Similar drops in jet fuel prices could begim spurring more business jet usagreas well. According to the , the averager price of jet fuel ­— $58.40 a barrel as of May 1 ­— is down 58.7 percentr from this time a year ago. For Autry, lower prices mean more incentiveto fly, whetherf for business or for fun. And although he thinks traffidc levels will reboundby 2010, levelin off now means the ascent back to those levelss is coming. “I think thingas have hit a bottom,” he says.
“I think peoplw are starting to have more confidence inthe economy.”