N2212R said:I gotta meet a guy at PTK in a coupe hours, just to drop off some stuff. Which FBO wont bend me over with fees. I probably won't even leave the ramp area.
lancefisher said:I think they changed hands once or twice, but IFL East always treated me pretty good and they usually had the best fuel price on the field.
N2212R said:$35 for a ramp fee - for 10 stinking minutes. I just drove and met the guy i needed to get the stuff to in Lansing.
N2212R said:Having never been to PTK, I wouldn't have known any of the codes, etc. So I would have HAD to use an FBO to get in and out. Nope, wasn't as fun.
jangell said:They only were able to put about 4 gallons per tank in the C150. I'm sure the line guy loved me.
4CornerFlyer said:This really ****es me off. Ed made a perfectly rational decision to drive because the FBO through whose gate he needed to walk wanted to charge an outrageous amount of money.
The practice results in less general aviation activity, less fuel sold and fuel taxes paid, and a pilot who is surely thinking to himself, "I'll never spend one cent in that s---hole."
Yes, I know there are reasons that FBO's feel they need to charge ramp fees. I just wish they'd realize that the practice is penny-wise and pound-foolish. The GA industry should not be the cause of its own demise.
Jon
N2212R said:
lancefisher said:The worst one for me was Signature at Rochester MN.
jangell said:Signature? Ever since I've started flying from there it is Rochester Aviation. Did they just change their name? Or was there another FBO (not that I know of)
N2212R said:I've got no issues with an overnight fee. I've got no issues with a parking/tie-down fee. But a fee for being there 10 minutes and using NONE of their facilities? Give me a break. Oh wait, I guess I used their door because the rest of the airport is fenced off.
4CornerFlyer said:Ah, Bill, you need to factor in the spite quotient.
$20 ramp fee equals $20 pure profit to the FBO while you receive no services at all.
The $24 difference in fuel between Austin and your home is not all going to the FBO, since some of it has to pay their cost of the gas.
Did you need to get 20 gallons to avoid the fee, or would a lesser amount of fuel sufficed?
Jon
How much of that $24 goes to pay the $xx/sq ft lease that they're paying on that ramp space and how much empty ramp space are they leasing that the $24 helps to supplement because there are no other airplanes parked there? The return on investment isn't worth it and we'll never charge a ramp fee as the only ramp space we'll be leasing is where we'll be parking our own plane(s) just outside the hangar.wsuffa said:Actually, the $24 is pure profit to them.
SCCutler said:Bill, maybe I have just been lcky, as I have never been charged aramp fee at Trajen. Of course, I usually buy fuel. That might be it.
Yowza, our jaws dropped when we saw who met us on the ramp.SCCutler said:Or, maybe the exceptionally attractive young lady at the counter was hoping I'd like her?
SCCutler said:Bill, maybe I have just been lcky, as I have never been charged aramp fee at Trajen. Of course, I usually buy fuel. That might be it.
Or, maybe the exceptionally attractive young lady at the counter was hoping I'd like her?
Naaa.
TDKendall said:How much of that $24 goes to pay the $xx/sq ft lease that they're paying on that ramp space and how much empty ramp space are they leasing that the $24 helps to supplement because there are no other airplanes parked there? The return on investment isn't worth it and we'll never charge a ramp fee as the only ramp space we'll be leasing is where we'll be parking our own plane(s) just outside the hangar.
wsuffa said:Well, this is a case of "no real competition".
flyingcheesehead said:Boy, am I spoiled.
There are four airports in the Madison area. Blackhawk, unfortunately, is probably going to close. It's dying slowly and the neighbors don't like it so they're letting their trees grow as high as possible, which continues to force the displaced threshold farther and farther down the runway.
lancefisher said:I thought there was federally mandated protection against that sort of thing. IIRC there have been multiple court cases where the offending neighbors were required to trim their tree tops.
flyingcheesehead said:Does anybody know more about what can be done about these sorts of unfriendly airport neighbors?
flyingcheesehead said:Also, since then, the FBO at MSN has stopped allowing flights there due to an incident between - you guessed it - one of their rental airplanes and a tree.
lancefisher said:While I'm not to fond of trivial lawsuits, I think it's too bad the FBO and/or pilot involved didn't sue the tree owner for creating a hazard to air navigation.