World Fuel Services and Network FBOs to Celebrate Innovation at S&D 2015 with Some Exciting Surprises at their World’s Fair Kickoff Event

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World Fuel Services announced today that they will be exhibiting at the 2015 Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference (S&D 2015) in San Jose, Calif., with the World’s Fair theme at their booths to celebrate aviation innovation. With the World’s Fair exposition’s long history of bringing innovation and fun to the masses, the theme provides a unique backdrop to showcase World Fuel Services’ comprehensive Business & General Aviation offerings. World Fuel Services and the new co-exhibiting FBOs will fill two rows of the upcoming conference at the San Jose Convention Center from February 3 – February 6, 2015.
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Banyan to Host iPad Takes Flight EFB Challenge – Connected Flight™ Edition Seminar

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Banyan Pilot Shop will host MyGoFlight’s iPad Takes Flight! EFB Challenge – Connected Flight™ Edition Seminar. This seminar is designed to advance the use of iPads and tablets as an Electronic Flight Bag (EFB) and a connection to critical information and on-board navigational systems during all phases of flights. The goals of Connected Flight™ are to improve safety, reduce stress, simplify flight operations, and increase the number and duration of flights.  
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FBO Connection Bloggers Appearing at 2015 Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference

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The team at Aviation Business Strategies Group and FBO Connection bloggers, John Enticknap and Ron Jackson, will be attending the 2015 NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference next week in San Jose, Calif., and would love to touch base.
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FBO Operations Tip of the Week: Differentiate Your FBO on Customer Service, Not on Price

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By John L. Enticknap and Ron R. Jackson, Principals of Aviation Business Strategies Group
- Facilitators of NATA’s FBO Success Seminar and Authors of the forthcoming book: FBO Survival: 10 Tips to Keep Your Operations Lean, Mean & Profitable

 

Many FBOs have gone out of business by lowering their prices during prolonged periods of time. Yes, FBOs need to be price-competitive, but they must maintain healthy margins and find other ways to compete through differentiation.

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David Schuster Receives Lifetime Achievement Award

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Meridian, the full-service private aviation company based in Teterboro, NJ, is proud to announce that David Schuster has received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Teterboro Chapter of the Professional Aviation Maintenance Association (PAMA). Schuster is a Quality Assurance Inspector with Meridian Jet Center, the company’s aircraft maintenance business.  He joins a short list of distinguished recipients who have received this honor.
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Geneva Airpark Welcomes Winter Clients

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Based on the success of these past months, the Geneva Airpark team is more than ever ready to welcome its clients for a 5th winter at Geneva International Airport (LSGG). In order to deal with the growing demand to shelter business jets, Geneva Airpark is offering a global solution for business aviation, with daily, week-end or long term hosting possibilities, along with new additions to the range of made-to-measure services, which are more and more appreciated by the clients.
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Shell Aviation Becomes Sole Fuel Operator at Lille Airport (LFQQ) in France

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Shell Aviation started operations at Lille Airport, France, (LFQQ) strengthening its European network with its appointment as the airport’s sole fuel operator. Shell Aviation was awarded the 10 year contract in September 2014 to operate the fuel storage facilities and into-plane services at the airport through its subsidiary, Avitair. In addition to Lille, one of France’s busiest airports, Shell Aviation currently operates in eight airports in the country.
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Asian Aircraft Finance Market: New Local Players to Support Region’s Growing Fleet

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When addressing the Legislative Council on the 13th of January, 2015 the Hong Kong’s Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying revealed the government’s intentions to turn the city into a major aviation finance hub capable of competing with the likes of Ireland and Singapore. The upcoming changes in Hong Kong’s tax legislation and financial system serve as yet another clear signal that the Asia Pacific region is getting ready to grab the largest piece of the lucrative aviation finance pie.
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FBO Operations Tip of the Week: Cross Train and Involve all Employees in the Customer Experience

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By John L. Enticknap and Ron R. Jackson, Principals of Aviation Business Strategies Group
- Facilitators of NATA’s FBO Success Seminar and Authors of the forthcoming book: FBO Survival: 10 Tips to Keep Your Operations Lean, Mean & Profitable

 

For most FBOs, employees must learn to multitask. In evaluating FBOs that are consistently successful, we find employees do many different job functions that result in not only a more efficient operation but it actually helps employee morale and adds to the customer service experience. As we like to say, a happy employee, a happy customer.

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FBO Operations Tip of the Week: Maximize Your Profit Position

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By John L. Enticknap and Ron R. Jackson, Principals of Aviation Business Strategies Group
- Facilitators of NATA’s FBO Success Seminar and Authors of the forthcoming book: FBO Survival: 10 Tips to Keep Your Operations Lean, Mean & Profitable

 

As FBO operators and managers, one of the most important tasks to keep in mind is maximizing your profit position.

In order to accomplish this, we rely on a standardized fuel pricing method. We think it is fair to say most FBOs use either cost-plus pricing or mark-up pricing. Cost-plus means you want to make a certain “plus” above your cost. For example, your cost today is approximately $2.25 per gallon and you want to make $1.50 per gallon. Therefore, simple math puts the selling price at $3.75 resulting in a profit of 40 percent  on sales. 

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