Story ID: 
AOPA's FBO Fee Transparency Crusade Grows
By: Curt Epstein
Caption: AOPA’s Know Before You Go initiative, aimed at promoting transparency in FBO ramp fee pricing, is expanding.
Word Count: 230
AOPA’s Know Before You Go initiative, aimed at promoting transparency in FBO ramp fee pricing, continues to gain steam two years after it was launched. With hundreds of general aviation organizations—ranging from major alphabet groups such as NBAA, NATA, GAMA, HAI, and EAA, to local flying clubs—signing on, the measure now has the backing of thousands of pilots.
Among the FBO chains, AOPA said only three—ACI Jet, Cutter Aviation, and Wilson Air, comprising 12 locations—have fully complied with the initiative's voluntary pricing transparency guidelines. Signature Flight Support posts its ramp fees for piston aircraft, AOPA pointed out, but not for larger business aircraft such as jets or turboprops, while Atlantic does not post any of its fees or pricing online. Combined, these two large FBO chains represent more than 200 locations across the U.S.
AOPA president Mark Baker estimates that only one-quarter of the more than 3,300 FBOs in the U.S. have thus far adopted the transparency policy of publishing their fees online. “There is a lot of support for fee and ramp transparency at our public-use airports and by working together, I know we can, and must, do better than this,” he said. “Imagine flying on an airline and not being able to find out how much you’ll pay until you land. It just doesn’t make sense.”