Fuel shortage not expected to affect Cape airport

A jet fuel shortage in some parts of the country is not expected to affect aircraft-fueling operations at Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, at least not immediately.

Several small- and mid-size airports in California, Nevada and elsewhere are having trouble keeping up with demand for aviation fuel. Aviation industry analysts say the problem is related to increases in passenger traffic compared to last year, coupled with a shortage of truck drivers needed to deliver fuel to airports.

The fuel shortage has been compounded in recent weeks by the extensive use of aerial firefighting aircraft to battle large forest fires in several West Coast states.

Cape Girardeau airport manager Katrina Amos said she and the airport’s jet fuel supplier, Titan Aviation Fuels of New Bern, North Carolina, are monitoring the situation. Titan distributes aviation fuel to airports and fixed base operators, or FBOs, in more than 40 states and several Canadian provinces. The FBO at the Cape Girardeau airport is Cape Aviation.

“As of now, we are not feeling any impact from the jet fuel shortage,” Amos said. “Our supplier will update us if they anticipate any disruption of our supply, and so far so good.”

The Cape Girardeau Regional Airport, she said, typically has a five-day supply of jet fuel on site to accommodate the needs of both commercial and general aviation aircraft.

In June, Cape Aviation pumped 44,839 gallons of jet fuel into aircraft departing the Cape Girardeau airport, up from just more than 31,000 gallons during the same month last year and almost 5,000 more than May’s total of 40,005 gallons. Of all the jet fuel sold at the airport in June, most of it (27,708 gallons) was purchased by SkyWest Airlines, which flies out of Cape Girardeau as United Express.

In the first half of 2021, jet fuel consumption at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport was up more than 22%, from 216,668 gallons in the first six months of 2020 to 248,036 gallons during the same period this year.

Although she says access to jet fuel supply issues haven’t been a concern at the Cape Girardeau airport, Amos said it could be a problem at some point.

“I’m not going to say it (the fuel shortage) won’t affect us eventually because even Titan is experiencing challenges related to the driver shortage,” she said.

To help avoid issues here, the airport typically orders fuel deliveries far ahead of anticipated needs.

“Our primary goal is to make sure we order our fuel well in advance and not wait until the last minute,” Amos said. “If we wait to order, we could experience difficulty maintaining our supply.”

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