High cost of aviation fuel hits Elkhart County business

by Ed Ernstes (ernstes@wsbt.com)

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Indiana Flight Center, which operates out of the Elkhart airport, has seen a drop in business due to higher cost of aviation fuel. (WSBT photo)

By Beth Boehne

Story Created: May 5, 2008 at 2:58 PM EST

Story Updated: May 5, 2008 at 4:16 PM EST

ELKHART CO. — The rising cost of fuel is hitting people hard. Now, more and more businesses are feeling the pinch.

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That's definitely the case for a place in Elkhart County that provides air service for several local businesses. The Indiana Flight Center operates out of the Elkhart airport. Many of their customers are from the RV and manufactured housing industry.

"We provide for a variety of companies in the area,” Brandon Herzog told WSBT News. "We do aircraft management, we do maintenance, we do fuel and we do pilot services and a variety of other things for any company that needs transportation services here in Elkhart.”

In addition to the many area companies and corporate aircraft they deal with, Indiana Flight Center also provides fuel services for planes around the country that stop in and gas up.

Now, the higher cost for aviation fuel is impacting everything they do.

"Fuel over the past year has gone up at least 35 percent. Whether it’s fuel or any other product, it’s hard to always pass that additional cost onto the customers,” explained Brett Zierle, general manager of Indiana Flight Center. “Sometimes you pass it all on; sometimes you don't. It just depends on what you think the market is going to do in the next week or two or three."

In some cases, they can offset the high fuel costs with other services they provide. But every day, that's becoming less of an option.

"I think we all would like to see it go down, but the reality is I don't think it’s going to go down any time soon,” Zierle said. “I think the days of cheap economical fuel — they're gone."

The flight center says it's noticed that overall flight traffic is down at their operation because of higher fuel costs. That means they sell less fuel, which affects their bottom line.

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