Fees, Rewards Programs Can Bolster Fuel Sales

Increasing fuel sales and overall revenue for FBOs is a tricky business these days, yet FBOs can use many strategies to fight the competition.

Charging operators ramp fees when they fail to purchase fuel and rolling out loyalty programs are some of the initiatives experts suggest FBOs use to compete in today's challenging market.

Here's the crux of the challenge facing FBOs: As fuel prices continue to soar, charter operators are less likely to purchase "courtesy" fuel randomly during FBO stops, Malcolm Hawkins, Colt International president, said.

Instead, operators "are doing everything possible to tank out of their home base," where bulk rates were negotiated in advance, or to purchase fuel only at FBOs advertising the lowest price, he said.

Hawkins added that his company, a supplier of jet fuel contract programs, was examining how to approach this new trend.

David Brinson, an FBO business consultant, suggested that all of an independent FBO's users - corporate and recreational aircraft and base tenants - should pay user fees if they are not buying fuel at the facility. In some cases, he suggested taking this policy one step further by requiring larger aircraft to purchase fuel to avoid the user fee.

Bolstering fuel sales is the most common problem facing FBOs. "Right now, we are suggesting customer loyalty and volume discounting and also offering some sort of a rewards program," said John Wraga, executive director of the Independent Fixed Base Operators Association (IFBOA). "Some facilities are offering based customers the ability to pre-purchase fuel in quantity. The IFBOA, at its annual board meeting on June 4, will select a rewards program that can be used for our membership."