FBO Fuel Survey Notes Positive Sales in 2018

Seventy-five percent of the FBOs responding to the annual FBO fuel sales survey and industry forecast from Aviation Business Strategies Group experienced positive fuel sales year-over-year, while 43 percent reported increases in transient ramp traffic. That was the message from company principals John Enticknap and Ron Jackson as they released the results on the eve of the NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference.

“For the third consecutive year, we’ve seen an increase in fuel sales by more than half of FBOs responding to our survey," said Enticknap. “This includes some stand-out fuel sales increases of more than 8 percent year-over-date by nearly 20 percent of the FBOs reporting."

However, participants were less bullish on the economy than in the previous year. “We saw a little softening in this area by respondents, with 61 percent agreeing that the economy is headed in the right direction,” said Jackson. “This is a slight decrease from the 73 percent recorded last year."

Asked to predict this year’s fuel sales, 58 percent forecast an increase from 2018.

As part of the survey, the company also asked FBO operators to list the biggest challenges facing their industry. “An open-ended question resulted in these top five concerns: employee retention, fuel pricing, erosion of fuel margins due to contract fuel suppliers, lack of flight instructors, and the cost of flying,” noted Enticknap.