High fuel costs grounding some local airports, pilots
Sat, Jun 7, 2008 
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Editor's Note: This is the second in a series of stories on how local residents are coping with the high cost of gasoline.
BY PETER DAINING
pdaining@grandhaventribune.com
The depressed Michigan economy and high fuel costs have grounded many pilots and quieted local airports.
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In the past few years, Grand Haven Memorial Airport has lost 60 percent of its personal pilots and 40 percent of its business travelers, according to Airport Manager Warren Benaway.
Of the airport's 60 airplane hangers, six or seven are empty, and some are even being rented as storage space, Grand Haven Transportation Director Tom Manderscheid said.
Manderscheid said spending more than $5 per gallon on fuel has affected business travelers, but people who fly for entertainment are especially likely to stay grounded.
"Who can afford to burn 50 gallons of fuel just to take a joy ride?" Manderscheid said.
Benaway said the traffic coming into the airport from other states is still steady, and he expects it to stay that way through the tourism season.
"Grand Haven is still a summer destination," he said. "A lot of people keep boats at the marinas, so we've got people flying in every week."
Muskegon County Airport Manager Marty Piette said he's noticed the biggest impact on commercial airlines, because people are less likely to vacation with high ticket prices.
The Muskegon airport actually has more passengers than a year ago, but Piette said that's mainly because of an expanded regional jet service.
"You have to assume people are flying less when you're talking over $5 a gallon for fuel," he said.
Holland-based Wings of Mercy has provided close to 3,000 free flights to needy medical patients since opening in 1991, and board member Terry Boer said donations are more important than ever.
"We're getting more requests because patients that could previously drive to treatment centers can't afford to do it anymore," Boer said. "We can weather it for a period of time — but if it continues, we'll have to make adjustments."
Boer is also the vice president of operations for an airplane charter company in Grand Rapids. His company, Rapid Air, has paid up to $8 a gallon for jet fuel recently. To combat the high prices, Rapid Air uses planes that are 30 percent more fuel efficient than average, and they also try to search out the cheapest fuel, Boer said.
"It takes up a lot of additional labor time, but it pays off if we can find a significant discount in the fuel," he added.
Although many pilots and air travelers are affected by high costs, Benaway said there is still some room for growth at the Grand Haven airport. He said the airport is still considering adding a bigger hanger for corporate planes.
"Some of them would like to cut costs by being at smaller airport," Benaway said of corporations.
