The current low cost of fuel could provide small community airports reliant on regional jets with a bit of a reprieve, predicts Michael Boyd, president and founder of Boyd Group International.
Planes like the Embraer ERJ 145 and Bombardier CRJ 200 are designed for $25 a barrel fuel, Boyd told airport directors, officials and others listening in this week during his company’s airport informational webinar, in explaining why the current low crude price is good news in many smaller communities.
“On the other hand, these airplanes are getting long in the tooth,” he adds noting that older planes often have maintenance issues that are too expensive to repair.
Boyd went on to say there’s already a shortage of regional jets in good operating condition, negating some of the positive momentum received from lower fuel costs.
During the webinar, which covered topics ranging from media and community relations to smart ways airports can attract not just more service, but the right service for their markets, Boyd did point out that in a few cases, a return of business and corporate aviation could pick up some of the slack.
“We define business aviation as a plane not flown by an owner, but by someone else for an owner, so we see that happening and we see corporate flight departments seeing a resurgence,” he says. “We’re going to go back to more business aviation.”
Boyd also points out how some smaller airports such as Golden Triangle Regional (GTR) in Columbus, Miss., are successfully re-inventing themselves as manufacturing hubs, attracting tire, truck parts and even helicopter plants to the land adjacent to the terminal and runway.
Referring to GTR, he says, “This is an airport that only three 50-seat jets a day, but they’ll to get more—and airports across the nation have these types of opportunities.”
