Sustainability and Environment
Rising fuel prices squeeze charter operators, FBOs
by Matt Thurber For a pilot worried about whether the next bump in operating costs will be one more incentive for the boss to sell the airpla

For a pilot worried about whether the next bump in operating costs will be one more incentive for the boss to sell the airplane, recent volatility of oil prices and rising jet-A prices must be disturbing. Retail jet-A prices have climbed significantly since the beginning of the year, and rapidly changing events in the Middle East and Japan’s triple terrors–earthquake, tsunami and nuclear powerplant disaster–seem to encourage oil speculators to drive prices to new heights.

However, widespread improvements in the global economy during the past year have also been fueling demand and inflating the price of oil. European charter operator London Executive Aviation reports that its fuel prices have climbed by 68 percent, to an average of $3.82 per gallon (March 16) from $2.27 on June 15, 2009.