PORT TOWNSEND – Peak flying season and an inordinate number of Northwest wildfires is to blamed for a recent week without aviation fuel at Jefferson County International Airport.
Port of Port Townsend officials were left with no choice but to turn off the credit-card-operated aviation fuel pump at the airport from Aug. 14 to Aug. 21.
“We had to help somebody . . . They were stranded here,” recalled Jodi Hallinan, co-owner of Port Townsend Aircraft Services, the airport’s fix-base operation.
She said she and her husband, B.J., found some spare gas to help the fliers return home.
Patrick Shannon, a Port Ludlow retiree and Jefferson County Pilots Association president, said he flew his Piper Archer to the Bellingham airport to tank up during that week without fuel.
He then flew to pick up a friend in Blaine.
Shannon, who has flown for five years and today heads up the 50-member association that meets at Jefferson International, said while in Bellingham he found another Jefferson County pilot buying fuel there.
It was an unusual situation at the port-operated facility south of Port Townsend, and the longest fuel-free period that port Executive Director Larry Crockett remembers.
“This time of year is a busy time,” said Crockett, adding that the main drain has been airplanes needed to fight fires in the Northwest, especially in Montana.
Another problem is that aviation fuel is a relatively small part of most oil refineries’ output, he said.
The shortage has led the port commissioners to direct staff to re-evaluate the port’s approach to buying aviation fuel. The policy now is to buy as needed, with no formal contract, for a small discount.
The commissioners are expected to re-address the issue next month.
That arrangement, albeit at a savings of between 3 and 5 cents a gallon, Crockett said, does not guarantee a supply for the airport.
That is why the port commissioners on Wednesday director port staff to approach three top aviation fuel suppliers – Air BP, Texaco Aviation and Avfuel – for contract proposals.
“Going branded” may be the way to go, said Crockett.
It may cost more, but it is likely to better secure a steady stream of fuel to the airport.
Right now, “We just call them up and we say, ‘We need more fuel,'” Crockett said.
Port officials call about a week ahead of running out, knowing that it takes three or four days for Avfuel or another source to deliver it.
So far this year, the port has bought $142,000 worth of aviation fuel on seven deliveries of about 5,000 gallons each.
Crockett said he expects three or four more deliveries this year.
At $4.69.9 a gallon at the airport last week, aviation fuel does not come cheap.
“Higher fuel prices have cause a number of pilots to cut back in the amount of flying,” said Shannon, who recalls paying $1.89 a gallon for aviation fuel at the airport five years ago.
Shannon, however, said aviation fuel at the airport is comparable to other statewide aviation facilities. He said he hopes to continue a dialog with port officials on behalf of the pilot’s association.
Putting out an e-mail to airport association members, Shannon said on Friday that he received nine replies, six of which supported the port continuing “on-the-spot market” purchases of fuel at the airport to keep costs down.
“It’s because what they don’t want to do is pay more,” he said.
Three other members, however, said they would pay a small premium if it guarantees the supply.
“I guess the majority of them feel that being without fuel for a couple days is not a big deal so long as you have enough fuel to go some place and buy it,” Shannon said.
Fuel costs for Shannon are the lion’s share of flying, he said, raising his cost from $28 to $45 an hour.
“It’s all because the price of fuel has gone up,” he said.
