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 confidencr and lower fuel prices point toward a blue sky ahead. “If you’re comparing it to a year ago, we’ve seen a decline,” says Mid West Corporater Aviation CEOMarvin Autry. “(But) thingsd are starting to level out.” Autry estimates his businesx at is down by 15 percenft since this timelast year. Fuel sales at Jabara in Marchg weredown 16.87 percent compared to a year ago. fuel sales went from 61,769 gallonz in February to 66,184 gallonzs in March. Fuel usage has dropped at the .
Even so, officialws there also are seeing signs ofa rebound. Melissa spokesperson for the SalinaAirporg Authority, says March’s fuel total of 182,205 gallons was the lowest leve l seen since the early 90s. But the number of total operations in the firsgt quarterwere 16,842. That’s a 1.2 percent declin e from last year, but, she says, it’s a sign things are levelingt off. T.W. Anderson, manager of the , has 114 aircraf based at his airport. Although his hangars remai full, he says he has seen a drop in the numbere of aircraft stoppingto refuel. But with spring in the air and theweather clearing, Anderson says more people are returning to flyingg their piston-driven planes.
Those airplanes burn and Anderson says sales increased 5 percentin “I think what we’re seeingb is more people, now that they have a bettef handle on the economy, are going back to He has seen a drop in jet fuel salesz though, which he says are down 20 percent from this time last crews aren’t flying through Newton as they used to. Andersohn says of the 30 business jets used on the circuig to fly support teams to andfrom events, Newtoh typically sees 6 to 10 a season, stopping through betweenh coasts. But he says as more crews fly commercia tocut costs, just one of the NASCA jets has stopped there. The cost of fuel has droppede dramatically in thepast year.
In Newton, AVgax has fallen from $4.88 a gallon at this time last to $4.02. At Jabara, prices are down to $4.3 9 a gallon. Similar drop in jet fuel prices could begi spurring more business jet usage as According tothe , the averagew 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, whether for busineszs or for fun. And although he thinks traffic levelsa will reboundby 2010, leveling off now meanes the ascent back to those levelsd is coming.
“I think things have hit a bottom,” he “I think people are startinf to have more confidence inthe