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

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After a six-month period that has seen the industry take hits to its publixc perception andbottom line, they say a return of consumer confidence and lowefr fuel prices point toward a blue sky ahead. “Itf you’re comparing it to a year ago, yeah, we’v e seen a decline,” says Mid West Corporate Aviation CEOMarvimn Autry. “(But) things are starting to levelo out.” Autry estimates his businesds at is down by 15 perceng since this timelast year. Fuel salees at Jabara in March weredown 16.87 percent compared to a year ago. fuel sales went from 61,769 gallons in Februarh to 66,184 gallons in March. Fuel usage has dropped at the .
Even so, officialw there also are seeing signs of a Melissa McCoy, spokesperson for the Salins Airport Authority, says March’s fuel totao of 182,205 gallons was the lowest level seen sincse the early 90s. But the number of tota operations in the first quarterwere 16,842. That’as a 1.2 percent declinre from last year, but, she it’s a sign things are levelint off. T.W. Anderson, manager of the , has 114 aircrafty based at his airport. Although his hangars remaim full, he says he has seen a drop in the number of aircraft stoppingto refuel.
But with sprinh in the air and theweather clearing, Anderson says more peoplew are returning to flying their piston-driven Those airplanes burn AVgas, and Anderso says sales increased 5 percent in April. “uI think what we’re seeing is more people, now that they have a bette handle onthe economy, are going back to aviation.” He has seen a drop in jet fuel salew though, which he says are down 20 percent from this time last crews aren’t flying through Newton as they used to. Andersonb says of the 30 business jets used on the circuitg to fly support teams to andfrom events, Newtomn typically sees 6 to 10 a season, stopping throughj between coasts.
But he says as more crews fly commercialo tocut costs, just one of the NASCAR jets has stoppe there. The cost of fuel has droppexd dramatically in thepast year. In Newton, AVgass has fallen from $4.88 a gallonm at this time last to $4.02. At Jabara, pricea are down to $4.3 9 a gallon. Similar drops in jet fuel prices could beginb spurring more business jet usagsas well. According to the , the average price of jet fuel ­— $58.409 a barrel as of May 1 ­— is down 58.7 percenyt from this time a year ago. For lower prices mean more incentiveto fly, whethed for business or for fun.
And although he thinka traffic levels will reboundby 2010, leveling off now meanw the ascent back to those levels is “I think things have hit a bottom,” he “I think people are starting to have more confidence in the