Fuel sale projections don't add up

Let’s not kid ourselves.
Projections on fuel sales being submitted by the Portland Aviation Board to the Federal Aviation Administration might be enough to satisfy the FAA.
But they’re intellectually dishonest.
During a period from 2006 through 2010, sales of fuel at the airport averaged about 10,757 gallons a month.
But in February of this year, the figure was less than 165 gallons.
Why the difference?
Miller Aviation is no longer based at Portland Municipal Airport. The current aviation board and the Hosier administration — apparently convinced that the company was getting a sweetheart deal on fuel — effectively chased the business out of town.
When Miller Aviation was based here and the late Dave Miller was fixed base operator of the airport, the company bought its fuel here.
When the company relocated much of its operation to Celina, those sales — roughly 8,000 to 10,000 gallons a month — disappeared.
Today, in an effort to convince the FAA that planned improvements to the airport’s fueling station will pay for themselves via sales revenues, the aviation board wants to pretend that the rift between the city and Miller never happened and that sales will miraculously return to the levels reached when the company was based here.
But let’s not kid ourselves.
While there’s plenty of uncertainty in the wake of Miller’s death this month in a plane crash, one thing is certain: Without Miller Aviation or an equivalent aviation company based here, fuel sales at the airport will never reach their earlier volume. — J.R.[[In-content Ad]]