Avfuel Promotes Sustainable Alternative Jet Fuel

After business aviation industry’s Sustainable Alternative Jet Fuel (SAJF) trial event held earlier this month at California’s Van Nuys Airport, Avfuel is continuing the discussion over its use at the Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference this week in San Antonio, Texas. The Ann Arbor, Michigan-based fuel provider delivered 6,200 gallons for the Van Nuys event, the first time SAJF was available to operators at a business aviation airport. It also was the first time Avfuel distributed the fuel, which was produced by Gevo.

“Our team was eager to help facilitate the supply needs for the day and make our new product available to operators for a limited time,” said Keith Sawyer, Avfuel’s manager of alternative fuels. “We’ve worked extensively on the logistics of procuring SAJF, and how to properly blend it, test it, and store it, so to see it put into use was a major milestone.”

At the S&D show this week, Avfuel will have a separate booth dedicated to the fuel, and Sawyer will be on hand to answer any questions about it. “We’re keen to discuss the product with attendees, educate them on the product and its viability for use, and hope to walk away with some commitments,” he said.

FBO Fuel Survey Notes Positive Sales in 2018

Seventy-five percent of the FBOs responding to the annual FBO fuel sales survey and industry forecast from Aviation Business Strategies Group experienced positive fuel sales year-over-year, while 43 percent reported increases in transient ramp traffic. That was the message from company principals John Enticknap and Ron Jackson as they released the results on the eve of the NBAA Schedulers & Dispatchers Conference.

“For the third consecutive year, we’ve seen an increase in fuel sales by more than half of FBOs responding to our survey,” said Enticknap. “This includes some stand-out fuel sales increases of more than 8 percent year-over-date by nearly 20 percent of the FBOs reporting."

However, participants were less bullish on the economy than in the previous year. “We saw a little softening in this area by respondents, with 61 percent agreeing that the economy is headed in the right direction,” said Jackson. “This is a slight decrease from the 73 percent recorded last year."

Asked to predict this year’s fuel sales, 58 percent forecast an increase from 2018.

As part of the survey, the company also asked FBO operators to list the biggest challenges facing their industry. “An open-ended question resulted in these top five concerns: employee retention, fuel pricing, erosion of fuel margins due to contract fuel suppliers, lack of flight instructors, and the cost of flying,” noted Enticknap.

Rittenhouse Receives NBAA S&D Leadership Award

Hangar Aviation Management director of aviation Kellie Rittenhouse was awarded the NBAA’s Schedulers & Dispatchers Outstanding Achievement and Leadership Award today at the organization’s S&D conference in San Antonio, Texas. Rittenhouse is a certified aviation manager and holds an FAA dispatcher certification.

She is a former S&D Committee member who chaired the 2004 conference in Savannah, Georgia. “Her enthusiasm was contagious,” said Jo Damato, NBAA’s senior director of educational strategy. “Since then, she has continued to set the bar high not just for me but for other professionals—both women and men—walking in her footsteps. What Kellie has done for me and my professional development, she has done for many others.”

Rittenhouse also serves as director of the Michigan Business Aviation Association. NBAA said she is known by the scheduling and dispatching community for “passionately and freely sharing her knowledge and experience with other professionals.”

The award recognizes people who have shared their business aviation industry expertise, provided extraordinary service, exhibited leadership, and made significant contributions to the scheduling and dispatching field. Rittenhouse is the 11th winner of the award that was created in 2008.

“Kellie is the first flight department leader to be presented this award, which is notable as companies see the value in having non-flying professionals as aviation directors,” Damato said.

Signature’s Italy FBOs Earn Country’s First IS-BAH Nod

Signature Flight Support announced today at NBAA’s Schedulers and Dispatchers Conference that its four locations in Italy are the country’s first to obtain Stage I registration under the International Business Aviation Council’s (IBAC) International Standard for Business Aviation Handling (IS-BAH).

In 2016, the BBA Aviation subsidiary entered into a joint venture with local aviation company SEA Prime S.p.A. The FBO chain acquired a 60-percent share of Prime Aviation Services, the European company’s service division, which operates a newly refurbished FBO at Milan Linate—Italy’s first dedicated business aviation airport—and satellite facilities at Milan Malpensa, Rome Ciampino, and Venice Marco Polo Airports, all of which were rebranded to add four more Signature locations. Each passed the week-long IS-BAH safety management audit process, following an external assessment by a team of IBAC-accredited auditors.

“We are proud to announce that we have accomplished the first IS-BAH certification within Italy, and we look forward to bringing more of our European locations through the accreditation process,” said Evie Freeman, managing director of Signature’s EMEA locations. “Safety is our core value and lived by every one of our employees.”

Terry Yeomans, IBAC’s IS-BAH program director, added, “All of us at IBAC commend Signature for this accomplishment and recognize their dedication to a safety culture that embraces global industry best practices for business aviation ground handlers.”

Swiss Online Fueling Service Expands to North America

European fueling service provider Valcora will be making its North American debut at this year’s NBAA Schedulers & Dispatcher Conference. The company, founded in 2017, will be promoting its newly established North American office, which joins its locations in Switzerland, Ireland, and Singapore. Additional locations in the U.S. and in South Africa are slated to come online by mid-year.

Of particular note for North American operators flying to Europe is Valcora’s experience in navigating the complexities of EU fueling taxes, and according to the company, its newest office has already received significant interest from local operators seeking a fuel service that can support global operations.

Nigel Harris, with more than two decades of aviation experience, has been appointed as the company’s director for the Americas. “Valcora’s focus on customer service goes above and beyond, which is why we are one of the industry’s fastest growing aviation fueling companies,” he noted.

Valcora’s fuel purchasing system, described as “technically sophisticated yet simple to use” has been adopted by a number of large business aviation operators including Luxaviation.

“As we venture into North America, we are extremely well positioned, with a fantastic team, a local presence, intelligent technology, and strong buying power, which we can leverage to benefit all our customers,” said CEO Daniel Coetzer.

FBO Profile: Summit Aviation VBT

While many FBOs in the U.S. are similar, it comes as a surprise to find one that breaks the mold. One of them is Summit Aviation, the lone service provider at the Arkansas Bentonville Municipal Airport/Louise M. Thaden Field (VBT), which recently relocated across the airport to the brand-new Thaden Fieldhouse. Summit has been the FBO at the 1940s-era, dedicated GA airport for more than a decade, ever since VBT was ravaged by a tornado to the point that its future was in jeopardy. Dave Powell, the company’s owner, decided to take on the aircraft servicing at that point and began to build infrastructure.

The $12 million Thaden Fieldhouse (like the airport, named after local pioneering aviatrix Louise Thaden), which opened in October after a year-long construction program, includes the FBO’s 10,000-sq-ft, two-story terminal—more than tripling the size of its previous facility—with a passenger lobby and CSR desk on the ground floor and flight-planning area, pilot lounge, shower facility, and two snooze rooms upstairs.

Among its amenities are a 20-seat conference room, full kitchen, crew car, and on-site car rental. Café Louise is a popular destination for pilots and non-aviators alike and overlooks the ramp, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner, as well as the “best airport coffee in the country,” according to Brad Elliott, the FBO’s recently named general manager.