fuel prices and training
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Join Date: Apr 2005
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fuel prices and training
Am i being too nieve and behind the times to suggest that fuel prices have dropped and therefore still should not be being passed on to the price of flight training?. Been doing some research today and calling round some of the FTOs as a means of continuing some of my flight training.
(please no replys telling me i must be stupid to be training in this current climate. Beleive me it pains me to even consider it at the moment but im limited to when my exams expire to get on with it. i am amazed i might add that there are individuals still signing up to intergrated courses as we speak!)
Found some FTOs have actually put their prices up compared to last year and still suggesting the cost of fuel is to blame!
I would have thought that considering the current climate and recovery of the price of fuel that FTOs would be slightly dropping prices to compete in the current marketplace.
(please no replys telling me i must be stupid to be training in this current climate. Beleive me it pains me to even consider it at the moment but im limited to when my exams expire to get on with it. i am amazed i might add that there are individuals still signing up to intergrated courses as we speak!)
Found some FTOs have actually put their prices up compared to last year and still suggesting the cost of fuel is to blame!
I would have thought that considering the current climate and recovery of the price of fuel that FTOs would be slightly dropping prices to compete in the current marketplace.
Last edited by hughesyd; 15th Jan 2009 at 17:13. Reason: spelling!!
Join Date: Mar 2007
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They should be, but they don't.
Fuel costs last year were around $140 per barrel, looking at it the now its at $35 YET the fuel costs for your car have only went down from 1.19 to 82.9.
Typical, companies ripping their consumers off.
Fuel costs last year were around $140 per barrel, looking at it the now its at $35 YET the fuel costs for your car have only went down from 1.19 to 82.9.
Typical, companies ripping their consumers off.
Join Date: Mar 2005
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I know a few schools in the NW including the one I fly at did not charge an extra penny despite the fuel costs last year, they are hardly going to be cheaper this year, probably still paying the fuel bill from then!!!
Also some of the airports are very slow at reducing the fuel prices, even then it does not always go back to the correct price as with the car supplies!
Life goes on
Also some of the airports are very slow at reducing the fuel prices, even then it does not always go back to the correct price as with the car supplies!
Life goes on
Join Date: May 2005
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At my aeroclub, we pushed the prices up last summer to account for the extra cost of fuel, but even so the increase did not quite make up for the losses incurred in the first half of the year or, indeed, even cover the cost of fuel at certain points in the second half of 2008. As a result, the prices are staying high for the first half of 2009, to be re-evaluated next summer.
So as you can see, there are valid reasons why prices might still be high at many places. A different thing is that, as others have pointed out, once the market has adjusted to the higher prices and if the demand is still there, there is little reason to sell cheaper, so I wouldn't expect prices to go back to pre-2008 levels.
So as you can see, there are valid reasons why prices might still be high at many places. A different thing is that, as others have pointed out, once the market has adjusted to the higher prices and if the demand is still there, there is little reason to sell cheaper, so I wouldn't expect prices to go back to pre-2008 levels.
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Typical
A genuine club may obviously charge what its members decide but, although scandalous as well as amateurish, it is typical that some have apparently been selling way above, or below !, cost price for fuel. In some areas, you have a choice of retailers nearby to combat club rip-offs but, in others, the cost of getting there would outweigh any possible saving. Another factor is that some, so-called, clubs aren't really mutual but, in practice, businesses run for the benefit of the CFI or Committee by scamming their student 'members' and 'guests'(visitors).
By the way, it isn't as simple as 'oil was $150 and is now $50 so fuel should be a third of previous price' because:
-a high proportion of the U.K. retail price is excise duty which, unlike VAT, is a 'fixed' amount of tax and
-the £ has depreciated significantly.
In a competitive commercial business, the price will be closely related to cost.
I know that the top JAA FTO supplier in Florida has definitely cut fuel prices by over a half since I last looked in the Autumn (now $2.44 gal.). O.K. It is 24 hour self-service, rather than attendant, but most pilots seem to prefer DIY.
For current prices, see Ormond Beach Aviation - Home Page - Welcome!
By the way, it isn't as simple as 'oil was $150 and is now $50 so fuel should be a third of previous price' because:
-a high proportion of the U.K. retail price is excise duty which, unlike VAT, is a 'fixed' amount of tax and
-the £ has depreciated significantly.
In a competitive commercial business, the price will be closely related to cost.
I know that the top JAA FTO supplier in Florida has definitely cut fuel prices by over a half since I last looked in the Autumn (now $2.44 gal.). O.K. It is 24 hour self-service, rather than attendant, but most pilots seem to prefer DIY.
For current prices, see Ormond Beach Aviation - Home Page - Welcome!
Also, you have to consider that the £ has plummeted against the $ since the summer so the percentage fall in the dollar price of oil does not equate to the same percentage fall in pounds the UK.
Join Date: May 2003
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sure fuel has fallen but then there has been consideralble increases in maintainence costs due to the earlier implementation of the new EASA regime in the UK. The falling pound will also put up the cost of parts so its all swings and roundabouts.
Beside which those who kept prices the same as the prices went up will do the same as they fall back.
Good luck to them.
Beside which those who kept prices the same as the prices went up will do the same as they fall back.
Good luck to them.
