Has Cost of Fuel Impacted your Flying?

luvflyin said:
Yeah, yeah. I get supply and demand all that Jazz. But they do have the choice to sell based on their overhead. Methinks it might be politically advantageous to try to talk them into selling based on actual costs. I’ll think about it a little more at the pump while I’m waiting for the nozzle to click off.
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Every sale price is, stated or not, "or best offer." Nobody sells anything with a price "or second best offer."
 
AVGAS over $8/gal at my home field…..I use regular car gas in my exp when possible, but even that’s $4.28/g now….paid $4.09 @ Costco yesterday. Last year my op cost was $23 hr, now about $33 hr….still better shape than most for a 4 seater so not complaining. I let a few local CFIs fly it and build time and often do dog re location rescue trips ….. they try to find airports with car gas to keep their cost low as they pay for gas. It seems there are fewer than normal volunteers to fly dogs over the last few months, due to gas cost I expect, and need more volunteer flights if anyone interested.

I’m going to buy some petroleum company stocks as even though they say it cost more to get and make it, and they are not making any more profit as a result of higher prices ….they still seem to make distortional profit margins that quarter and shares are up.

One of my hanger mates has a c182 that hasn’t flown for months due to op coat…..another sold his commander 114 due to op cost, as well after an annual $7k annual! He only put 20 hours on it year prior! Side note, the new owner raised the gear lever instead of flaps during touch and go and NW collapsed a week later while getting checked out for insurance with a CFI. Not sure if it will fly again, not that damage that extensive, but higher time engine was full power and replacement likely worth far more than the entire plane when done ….likely be sold to Beagles for part out. To bad as GA can’t keep losing its fleet.
 
Nope. Compared to the other costs of ownership, a few extra AMUs for gas isn't slowing me down.
 
Hasn’t affected my flying in the short term . I’m just more selective in where I purchase my gas. Everything else associated with flying is also increasing. I now appreciate my Cessna 150 more now than ever.
 
frfly172 said:
Hasn’t affected my flying in the short term . I’m just more selective in where I purchase my gas. Everything else associated with flying is also increasing. I now appreciate my Cessna 150 more now than ever.
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You and me also, loving my 172 for it's low operating cost. As I have acquired lot's tools and spare parts for it.
My buddies have been bugging me to upgrade. I held tight to my 172 and flew their HP and complex aircraft. Got my endorsements in both of their planes, Thank you.
 
Fuel just jumped again at my home drone. Up from $5.84 to $6.29. Up from 1 month ago from $4.59. Sheesh!
 
Rcmutz said:
Fuel just jumped again at my home drone. Up from $5.84 to $6.29. Up from 1 month ago from $4.59. Sheesh!
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Home drone is $5.86, it's my main fuel sourse.

Not too far south is 8GK at $4.49 a gallon. Brand new everything, the whole airport.
I landed on this airport before it was a airport. Every since the the nascar track closed this airport is still moving forward!
I take 2-5 gallon fuel jugs and tote those back to help make it worth my while in the back of my 172. Jugs are maintained with fresh orings and vent valves and do not leak.
 
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Just checked local prices in my area. Looks like any lag has caught up. The big FBOs near urban areas are in the 7's. The rural inland fields are in high 5's or 6's.
 
My home field is now over 9.30/gal AVGAS! As a hanger renter I get a break but I can burn regular car gas which I pump from my car tank with a 12v pump for bit less than $4/gal so still flying … several others on field haven’t flown much other than to fly elsewhere and tank up for closer to 5-6/gal where self serve available. Local rentals wet rates up as well as a result. Flying continues to get more expensive every day it seems….feel bad for students taking out personal loans for training.

Anyone see AVGAS much below $5 lately?
 
$7.35 and $7 at my commute nodes. C TX and Podunk desert border town respectively. Was hoping it would create downward pressure on listings, no dice. Same ol trash rotted out plane listings, still 2022 priced. Fixed Carriage costs are not high enough yet for these unserious listers to be enough inducement to price for actual transactions. At the end of the day fuel is a variable cost, so it doesn't move the needle.

I think $7 avgas is here to stay. It will yield more attrition, plus airplanes will continue to mothball. Revenue side will continue to cost shift to airline dreamers, though the current hiring cooling will also put downward pressure on demand for flight schools, so many will shutter regardless of the fuel prices.
 
My home drome is 6.36. Seems reasonable, all things considered. I'm about to launch on a 3 week XC trip.

Oil prices have been $80-90 for 6 months now. Most places have settled in to their new normal price by now.
 
$5.98 at Brown Field KSDM, in San Diego and $6.32 at Borrego Valley L08, to the east. Given the price of auto fuel, which is only slightly less in the same area, these prices seem like a bargain and do not discourage me from flying. My income is at an all time high given inflation, my 2.5% mortgage is looking smaller as time goes on and $50/hr fuel cost is just not a major factor for me given that monthly withdrawals from my bank account look like somebody else’s lottery payout. $400 a month for AVGAS is for better or worse in the noise. Better than $800 a month for weekly psychologist visits.
:)
 
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my home airport AVGAS is now $10.05/gal! ...allbeit it's a full service FBO and highest in area other than class B airport.... obviously most owners are flying elsewhere to fill up, but average US cost now $7.65/gal is still a killer.
As if there's not enough pressure on GA. I paid $3.85/gal for regular car gas across the street for my experimental so cheap enough to fly regularly .. a buddy was happy to split the gas yesterday for a 2 hour flight.... he was renting a beat-up c172 for $180/hr and hasn't flown in months due to costs.....and it showed

hanger mates planes haven't moved for weeks due to fuel cost. ... one is getting mogas stc but ethanol-free gas still $5-6/g...

I fly with some local pilots on my c172 heavy occasionally and see noticable skill degregation.....even basics like maintaining takeoff centerline or on landings. I think cost will manifest in safety issue going forward, so take any opportunity to fly if even along for the ride. my landing just after 2 months not flying my own plane was, well, let's just say not awesome ....

try to find/afford ways to fly.
 
murphey said:
Nope....between high winds, lousy weather and a work load I didn't expect, my fuel bill lately is zero.
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That is exactly my issue. I have not seen any impact in my fuel cost b/c I cannot use any fuel. Weather in the SE has been poop.
 
Paying 7.55 here in Salina for aerobatic nationals. Not a lot of flying during contests, but was burning 20 gallons a day during practice week. Plus 12 hours of XC out and another 8 hours home at 10gph. I could probably do the math but I do not want to ruin my night.
 
Gas prices have reduced my recreational joyrides.
Used to pay $225-250 for an entire fill up, now I'm closer to $400.
At 225ish I could justify it as entertainment and enjoyment, while at $400 I feel like I need an actual reason to go somewhere.
 
I fly about 8 hours a month, currently at $6.44/gal in Castroville, TX, in a ~5.8gph Cessna 140, so I’m still flying as much as I can!
 
hindsight2020 said:
$7.35 and $7 at my commute nodes. C TX and Podunk desert border town respectively. Was hoping it would create downward pressure on listings, no dice. Same ol trash rotted out plane listings, still 2022 priced. Fixed Carriage costs are not high enough yet for these unserious listers to be enough inducement to price for actual transactions. At the end of the day fuel is a variable cost, so it doesn't move the needle.

I think $7 avgas is here to stay. It will yield more attrition, plus airplanes will continue to mothball. Revenue side will continue to cost shift to airline dreamers, though the current hiring cooling will also put downward pressure on demand for flight schools, so many will shutter regardless of the fuel prices.
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This will inevitably affect the pilot supply for the airlines, air taxi operators …...I guess anyone now pursuing the airline dream job from student Pilot to ATP must have at least $100k in his / her bank or savings accounts!
 
Cesarmx said:
This will inevitably affect the pilot supply for the airlines, air taxi operators …...I guess anyone now pursuing the airline dream job from student Pilot to ATP must have at least $100k in his / her bank or savings accounts!
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How much would someone desiring to be a MD or a Lawyer have in his/her bank or savings account?
 
Doc Holliday said:
How much would someone desiring to be a MD or a Lawyer have in his/her bank or savings account?
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Apples and lug nuts, I see.

Someone desiring to be a MD or a Lawyer can get a student loan with a pretty high degree of certainty that he will have a job at the end of that journey.

All a student pilot can get is a predatory loan. And only a small fraction of aspiring pilots will get an airline job that will allow them to pay that loan.
 
Not so much fuel cost, but plenty of other things have drastically effected my flying in 2026. Yes fuel cost has come into play, in my everyday transportation. I have been driving a lot in the last 4-5 months.
I am only flying a couple times a month lately. Plan to change that after finalizing some big changes in mine and my wife's lives. Not all of them good.
 
I paid $8.25 in San Marcos Tx Saturday. It is not a full service FBO. Hurts a bit
 
I rent, so I feel the price in the rental rate. The 182 is at $265/hr, which is fine for going somewhere, but is starting to feel a little steep for boring holes in the sky.
 
AV8R_87 said:
Apples and lug nuts, I see.

Someone desiring to be a MD or a Lawyer can get a student loan with a pretty high degree of certainty that he will have a job at the end of that journey.

All a student pilot can get is a predatory loan. And only a small fraction of aspiring pilots will get an airline job that will allow them to pay that loan.
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I’ve known people that set out to get a law degree, garnered huge student loans only to get a JD and end up in a low paying slip and fall practice (PI). Others ended up in corporate law with mediocre salaries.

Not all MD’s end up with lucrative practices either.

Everyone I’ve known that set out to become a professional pilot has done well, and with no doubt there are those that fail.

Kinda blows the “apple and lugnuts” analogy wouldn’t you think?
 
Doc Holliday said:
blows the “apple and lugnuts” analogy wouldn’t you think?
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Not really...

National Jurist claims 92.8% employment rate for the class of 2025, and while not all of them will be OJ's lawyer, more of them will do well enough to pay their loans than the 20% or so aspiring ATPs that make it. A law graduate doesn't have to instruct 30 more students before he will get to the point where he might have a chance to practice law, while trying to pay off an unsecured loan.

Same with doctors. In the low 90%.

Doc Holliday said:
I’ve known people that set out to get a law degree, garnered huge student loans only to get a JD and end up in a low paying slip and fall practice (PI). Others ended up in corporate law with mediocre salaries.
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And I know plenty that did well. Same with medical school graduates.

Doc Holliday said:
Everyone I’ve known that set out to become a professional pilot has done well, and with no doubt there are those that fail.
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Glad you lived in a good aviation bubble, but your experience doesn't align with the national reality.
But not all French women are redheads just because the first one I saw when I landed in Paris was.
 
Because of high fuel prices - without a clear end - Some airlines are reporting a cut back on the number of flights for the holidays …….we shall see how the demand for new pilot hirees is affected in the near future……
 
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Considering it's the regional low yield routes the ones likely to get cut first, this will hurt the regional manning first. It's certainly going to be a cold winter for those who had the expectation of 1500 straight to their airline "start clock".

According to the airlines, the "traveling public" continues to exercise near-perfect inelasticity of demand. Of course, they mean the upper leg of the K and the business traveler. Oh well then, let these upper-middle classers get on bidding wars for the reduced capacity of seats available during this upcoming Thxgiving/Xmas. As a 'VFR' customer, I have zero intention of getting on a bidding war for a DVT-inducing torture device in the back of a US-flagged 738 (trash product), against people just trying to get to an overpriced floating drunk boat (cruise ships). Sorry grandma, move stateside if you want to see the grandkid more frequently; not my role to subsidize your retirement; I'm trying to barely pencil out my own.

lmars said:
I paid $8.25 in San Marcos Tx Saturday. It is not a full service FBO. Hurts a bit
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Yes, my prior quote for the field just south, assumed self-service. If I had quoted the full serve, yeah my own area is already at $8.35. For the incomes in this area, yeah it's pretty outsized. I paid less in Stella Maris on my way across the ocean, and they barge that fuel into those remote cays lol. If $8 is the new normal for non-121 service fields, it's good night irene for the 12gph+ recreational stuff, which tends to be more travel oriented.

The one thing that has changed for me compared to how I felt before, is that at these prices, the hassles of RG start to make sense again. Wild timeline we're living in.
 
The good news is I still get $90 of fuel per month free (reduction in hangar rent for not being a hangar queen). :) The bad news is it only takes around 13 gallons to meet that requirement now. :( It costs what it costs. My fixed costs are still the majority of my annual flying costs.
 
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