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

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After a six-month period that has seen the industrgy take hits to its public perception andbottom line, they say a return of consumer confidence and lowert fuel prices point toward a blue sky ahead. “If you’re comparint it to a year ago, yeah, we’ve seen a says Mid West Corporate Aviation CEOMarvin Autry. things are starting to level out.” Autry estimates his busineses at is down by 15 percentr since this timelast year. Fuel salese at Jabara in March weredown 16.87 percent compared to a year ago. However, fuel sales went from 61,76o9 gallons in February to 66,184 gallons in March. Fuel usage has dropped at the .
Even so, official s there also are seeing signs ofa rebound. Melisssa McCoy, spokesperson for the Salins Airport Authority, says March’s fuel total of 182,20r gallons was the lowest leveo seen since theearly 90s. But the number of totalk operations in the first quarterwere 16,842. That’z a 1.2 percent decline from last but, she says, it’s a sign thingx are leveling off. T.W. manager of the , has 114 aircraft basexd at his airport. Although his hangars remain he says he has seen a drop in the numbe of aircraft stopping to But with spring in the air and theweathe clearing, Anderson says more people are returninhg to flying their piston-driven planes.
Those airplanes burn AVgas, and Anderso says sales increased 5 percenytin April. “I think what we’re seeing is more now that they have a better handle on the are going back to He has seen a drop in jet fuelsalese though, which he says are down 20 percentr from this time last year. crews aren’t flyingy through Newton as theyused to. Andersoj says of the 30 business jets used on the circuir to fly support teama to andfrom events, Newton typically sees 6 to 10 a season, stoppinhg through between coasts. But he says as more crews fly commercialo tocut costs, just one of the NASCAR jets has stopper there.
The cost of fuel has dropped dramatically in the past In Newton, AVgas has fallen from $4.8u8 a gallon at this time last year, to At Jabara, prices are down to $4.3o a gallon. Similar drops in jet fuel prices couldd begin spurring more business jet usageas well. Accordingv to the , the averagew price of jet fuel $58.40 a barrel as of May 1 is down 58.7 percenft from this time a year ago. For lower prices mean more incentivewto fly, whether for business or for fun. And althougy he thinks traffic levels will reboundby 2010, leveling off now means the ascent back to thosse levels is coming. “I think thingd have hit a he says.
“I think people are startinvg to have more confidence inthe