— from Tony Simpson, Airport Manager —
The Orcas Airport in Eastsound and Aeronautical Services Incorporated of Friday Harbor have concluded an agreement to lower the price of aviation fuel sold at the airport for June, July and August this year. Initially, the price should drop on June 1st from $7.08 to $6.69 per gallon. A price adjustment during the summer is likely and will depend on the wholesale price obtainable when fuel needs to be reordered to refill the tank.
Like most businesses on the island, Aeronautical Services shoulders increased costs for transportation and wages among others things and is also encumbered by high fixed costs and low sales volume. Although local and transient island flyers have come to expect to pay more for gas, the increasing disparity with mainland prices recently has exacerbated the sales volume-price dynamic and continues to increase the price disparity in a vicious cycle. When the price disparity gets high enough, pilots will refuel elsewhere because there isn’t much penalty for doing so when you’re already flying places in an airplane. It’s also likely that potential visitors make fueling or even destination decisions based on fuel prices.
At $6.69 per gallon, the fuel will still be marginally more expensive than fuel at Skagit-Bay View or Bellingham, which was $6.60 and $6.20 at the time of press, but it will be the cheapest in the San Juans. Collectively, the Airport and Aeronautical Services is hoping this experiment will increase sales volume and dilute the fixed costs. If successful, we should see increased sales volume in a virtuous cycle with lowered prices in place of the current vicious cycle.
Getting the word out is a priority for the airport. We’re bankrolling a portion of this experiment with the expectation that it will increase summer sales volume. The agreement rewards the airport for increased sales volume and should also increase money flowing into the local economy as more transients visit the airport and Orcas. So, please tell your pilot friends to stop in for a tank
