Egregious FBO charges

Htaylor said:
Have you been to this FBO before and did you know they charge for ramp use beforehand? Although I don't own it, I fly a PC12 and know there will be ramp and/or parking fees at Atlantic, Signature, etc. if I don't buy fuel. Usually 100 gallons. Whether you used their facilities or not, you parked on their ramp and they were available to you. Honestly, $385 is quite reasonable for turbine equipment. Atlantic hit my employer for $600 when I had them put the plane in the hangar for one night during a snow storm. And that was after I had purchased fuel. I think Signature is at $500 for parking with no fuel purchase.
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What value was received for the reasonable $385? Presuming the ramp was not full, nobody else was impacted one bit by his plane being parked there.
 
MauleSkinner said:
There’s always the grassy area next to the taxiway.
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no, there isn’t always. I called an fbo once and they informed me of the fee, I looked at the overhead map and asked about a patch of grass almost a mile from the fbo. Nope. Can’t park anywhere on the airport without paying the fee. I give them credit for being honest and not lying to me and then bill me anyway, which has also happened to me.
 
Salty said:
Name another business that can charge you without informing you were even using their service let alone how much that service costs.
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Imagine buying groceries and then days later finding that in addition to your groceries, the store had billed your card $200 for parking in it's parking lot.

Or worse, you go to the donut shop and the grocery store charges you $200 for parking because "it owns all the parking in the strip mall."
 
Salty said:
Precisely.

Landing fees should be required to be published in the afd as well. Charging a landing fee that you have no way of knowing about until after you land is nothing less than theft. And don’t tell me “call ahead” because I’ve been lied to more than once on that matter, but since they don’t have to put anything in writing you have no recourse.

Name another business that can charge you without informing you were even using their service let alone how much that service costs.

I find it surprising that anyone would defend the cowardly billing of someone a company hadn’t communicated with in any way. At least call them up personally and discuss the situation. This is a simple case of discrimination. He’s “rich” so he won’t even notice. Bill him.
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Most hospital and physician services.
Lab related-patholog
Radiology

Former ceo basically said people open their wallets up to us when they come here.



Hotels-taxes and/or fees


Car rentals?

Airbnb- listed fees don’t included one time things like cleaning fees.

Taxes
 
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RyanB said:
Honestly, I’m quite surprised by some of y’all.

If you park on the ramp of an FBO, even if you don’t use their services, than you should attempt to dispute the charges? Really? I’m disappointed by some of you.

If you park on the ramp of an FBO, they’re entitled to charge you, unless the policy is stated otherwise. That’s how the game works. Attempting to charge back the fees is, frankly, morally dishonest - so is trying to sneak out before or after business hours to avoid getting charged.

Speak to the FBO manager and explain the situation. I don’t disagree that the fees seem high, but c’est la vie. Either pay the piper or don’t use their pavement.
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I don’t know the history of the OP, but lack of badge suggests he landed here (poa) without paying his landing fee…
 
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Lindberg said:
No. There are specific laws about parking meters. And there are signs. If you parked on a street devoid of meters, and the city nevertheless charged you $300 for parking, you'd justifiably be incensed. Outraged. Not to mention it'd be illegal.

Did this ramp have signs listing the charges? Meters? Gates? Anything?

At most, without even an implied agreement to pay, the FBO might have a civil claim for the reasonable value of overnight parking. But without any overt indication that this was private property, that might not even stick.
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My point was that the "public" vs "private" bit was irrelevant. Either entity could have charged a fee. Finding "public" land to park on is not a panacea.

If the fee was egregious or not well-advertised/communicated, then those points are the issue, regardless of whether it was a pubic or private entity charging the fee. The correct analogy would be parking in a downtown lot and getting charged $300 based on your license plate when no fee schedule was posted. Who cares if it's the city or Parking Lots, Inc. mailing the bill?
 
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4RNB said:
Most hospital and physician services.
Lab related-patholog
Radiology

Former ceo basically said people open their wallets up to us when they come here.



Hotels-taxes and/or fees


Car rentals?

Airbnb- listed fees don’t included one time things like cleaning fees.

Taxes
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I hope you know if you're using a hospital's service, but I sorta get that one. All the labs I've been to have been pretty upfront about what the charge would be, but maybe I'm just lucky.

Hotels - never paid a fee at a hotel, but I've always been told the total amount of the transaction plus any hold before paying. Maybe I don't go to fancy enough hotels.

Car rentals, maybe? But the only unexpected charge I've had there was from a CS lady saying it would be fine if I got to my drop-off point after it closed (due to their own neglience as they didn't have a car for me until over an hour after I needed it and it was a four hour rental for a three hour trip), as long as I dropped the keys in the dropbox and the car was in the lot. I got charged two days for the car for doing that, but that was more on me for not getting the "okay" in writing to dispute the second day.

AirBnB and other rental places don't list the fees in the first blush price, but you find them all out before paying.

Taxes are the only one truly analogous to the original situation, I think, and I think it's rather stupid that taxes are done that way, too.

To clarify, I think the FBO should be able to charge for use of ramp space, even an outrageous fee, as if they want to chase away customers, that's on them. But post signs clearly on the ramp with stated fees and mail the bill or email it or call afterwards. Don't just charge a credit card on file (which I don't think is legal unless you consented to that, but I could be wrong).
 
from my perspective, it is entirely inappropriate for the FBO to charge the account without permission.

all the other stuff is debatable, but not the charge without permission.
 
Salty said:
no, there isn’t always. I called an fbo once and they informed me of the fee, I looked at the overhead map and asked about a patch of grass almost a mile from the fbo. Nope. Can’t park anywhere on the airport without paying the fee. I give them credit for being honest and not lying to me and then bill me anyway, which has also happened to me.
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Well, then, I guess he’s back to parking on the runway.
 
SkyChaser said:
Hotels - never paid a fee at a hotel, but I've always been told the total amount of the transaction plus any hold before paying. Maybe I don't go to fancy enough hotels.
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Those fees are fairly common in hotels in large cities and places popular with tourists- "resort fee", "facility fee", and so forth. You see that sometimes with car rentals, where there is a fee for the facility- typically Class B airports.
SkyChaser said:
Taxes are the only one truly analogous to the original situation, I think, and I think it's rather stupid that taxes are done that way, too.
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That adds to the hotel bill- City tax, state tax, tourist tax, tourism assessment, etc. They can get away with these taxes because tourists aren't local can can't vote on them. IHG recently added a check box to their web site to show the price with taxes and fees. I noticed cruises now show the total price with fees, taxes, and gratuities.

Hotels also have demand pricing, such that the price paid each night changes. The price can double from one night to another! One needs to check the pricing for multiple night stays.
 
Cap'n Jack said:
Those fees are fairly common in hotels in large cities and places popular with tourists- "resort fee", "facility fee", and so forth. You see that sometimes with car rentals, where there is a fee for the facility- typically Class B airports.

That adds to the hotel bill- City tax, state tax, tourist tax, tourism assessment, etc. They can get away with these taxes because tourists aren't local can can't vote on them. IHG recently added a check box to their web site to show the price with taxes and fees. I noticed cruises now show the total price with fees, taxes, and gratuities.

Hotels also have demand pricing, such that the price paid each night changes. The price can double from one night to another! One needs to check the pricing for multiple night stays.
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I have never not known what those fees were before I spent the night.
 
StraightnLevel said:
…The issue isn't the fee, per se. The issue is unauthorized charges being billed to a card number that they should not have been in possession of in the first place….
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We only have one side of the story, but the FBO didn’t steal credit card info, it was on file. That means OP had been there before (and admitted it). Ignorance or attempting avoidance of the policy isn’t a valid reason to not comply with the policy.

StraightnLevel said:
….

Here's a serious question: Why don't the FBOs put electronic parking meters in place for ramp parking, just like city street parking? Swipe your card for the intended stay period, and everything's handled easily, and with no lack of clarity or transparency. If you buy fuel, you get the parking charge voided or credited when you pay for the fuel.
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While not the exact concept, it’s already being done for landing fees.

www.vector-us.com

PLANEPASS | Landing fee billing | Vector Airport Systems

PLANEPASS is Vector Airport System's automated, full-service landing fee billing and collection system.
www.vector-us.com www.vector-us.com

ETA: my nearest airport and former base contracted for the system; there’s no exceptions for based aircraft, to include those who own airport homes with hangars. Prior to the ownership change a couple years ago, there was no landing fees at all, so there was some ruffling of feathers, to include a lawsuit as it seems the covenants for the homesites includes the phrase “free access to runway”. Don’t know how the case is going though.
 
StraightnLevel said:
The last time I was involved in taking card payments, our provider agreement clearly stated that we could NEVER retain a customer's CC number and associated info without a signed statement of authorization for repeated charges on file.
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How do you know they didn’t get that signed authorization when they got the credit card number?
 
MountainDude said:
What if they charged him $15,000? Do you still justify that? Where is the limit?
Fees should be transparent. They are not, because they can get away with it.
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How do we know the fees aren’t transparent? I have never seen a facility that doesn’t list their fees somewhere.
 
dans2992 said:
I was researching this a bit. Airports that take FAA grant assurances are required to ensure that services are available at "reasonable and non-discriminatory" pricing. Now, obviously, "reasonable" is in the eye of the beholder, but "non-discriminatory" - does that mean they can't charge me more than the identical airframe that burns 100LL? Because if you burn Jet A, they basically increase the fees 4x even if your aircraft is the same size as a piston.... because they know "you must have bigger pockets", I guess.

I already fly 15 minutes away to purchase fuel at LITERALLY 50% less than what this FBO sells it for. I suppose my issue is that the city has given them a monopoly on parking (and they use it as a weapon).....
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I often see this Grant Assurance thrown out in these conversations, understandably so from the owner/operator viewpoint.

But if you skip down from Grant Assurance #22 to #24, you find this nugget. "It will maintain a fee and rental structure for the facilities and services at the airport which will make the airport as self-sustaining as possible under the circumstances existing at the particular airport, taking into account such factors as the volume of traffic and economy of collection."
 
midwestpa24 said:
I often see this Grant Assurance thrown out in these conversations, understandably so from the owner/operator viewpoint.

But if you skip down from Grant Assurance #22 to #24, you find this nugget. "It will maintain a fee and rental structure for the facilities and services at the airport which will make the airport as self-sustaining as possible under the circumstances existing at the particular airport, taking into account such factors as the volume of traffic and economy of collection."
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What I want to know is why a PA24 and PA30 take up exactly the same amount of space, but the PA30 ends up paying a fee while the 24 doesn't, or pays a much higher fee. Parking should be based on air frame size, not how much more money the FBO thinks an owner has.
 
RyanB said:
How do we know the fees aren’t transparent? I have never seen a facility that doesn’t list their fees somewhere.
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I have seen more facilities where it isn’t transparent vs where it is. Calling ahead usually clears it up but more often than not I can’t find the info on the FBO’s website. This is especially true for Canada.

Not too long ago, I landed at a medium sized airport in Canada. No charges advertised on their website. All their services were though. I tried calling, no answer. I landed there, none of the advertised services were provided although I asked the line guy for some of them e.g. getting a ride to the main terminal to pick up my rental car. He was “too busy”. I walked the 10 minutes through the snow and cold. Next day when I left, I get billed $200 for one night parking. I paid but the next day wrote an angry email to the owner. He apologized and offered to refund me. I didn’t accept because he really was cool about it. He then said next time I’m coming through he’ll put me up in his hangar for free.

Next example, also in Canada: No rates advertised at the FBO’s website. After I landed, I asked how much the night in the hangar is and was told $150. Expensive but okay, it’s really cold so let’s do it. I left after office hours the next day and line guy can’t put charges through. A week later I get an invoice for $350. The night in the hangar was indeed $150 but there is a $100 hangar door open/close fee every time they open the hangar door which they didn’t tell me about. I paid them $150 and told them to f off for the rest. It’s been 3 years and they’re not chasing me for it. I’m avoiding that airport like the plague.
 
RyanB said:
How do we know the fees aren’t transparent? I have never seen a facility that doesn’t list their fees somewhere.
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Lol. What world have you been living in? Many FBOs go out of their way to ensure the fees aren't actually transparent. While it seems Signature and Atlantic finally caved and make them available on their websites, many others still essentially hide them. And even calling or emailing isn't always successful in getting accurate information.

From my perspective, I have no issue paying a reasonable parking fee or a reasonable ramp fee (if I don't buy fuel). But many FBOs now (especially the chain ones) have utterly outrageous fee structures and comically priced avgas. For the most part, the FAA doesn't care, AOPA hasn't made any real efforts (shocking) and the various city and municipal govts that own the airports have completely sold out airport users by both allowing their FBO tenants to operate like this and, in many cases, taking their own skim of the FBOs revenue via flowage fees, rent, etc.

In other words, the FBOs themselves aren't the sole cause of the problem, but they're certainly the face of it.
 
Lindberg said:
They're provided when you book a room as well as when you check in.
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Not always, and transparency is improving greatly. I agree that my comment is slightly dated. They are provided if you ask for the information. As I mentioned above, you need to check the box on the IHG hotel site- see attached image. Disclosure of these fees and taxes is recent due to proposed (in in CA, existing) laws like this:

Hotel booking sites, for example, would list only the room rates, not the "all-in" pricing. I note now that Booking.com, for example, lists the room rate with fine print indicating the price doesn't include fees and taxes, but they are listed now.
1725546048790.png
 
RyanB said:
How do we know the fees aren’t transparent? I have never seen a facility that doesn’t list their fees somewhere.
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I think that's the problem- the somewhere part. From what I've seen that's often just a sheet behind the desk. I've found most FBOs don't keep that info on their websites. Foreflight has a place for that data as do several websites but it doesn't seem to be kept up to date and is often very inaccurate or doesn't tell you that like 9/10 other FBOs those fees get waived with fuel for single engine piston aircraft.

The only way to really be sure before you land there is to call and hope the person you're talking to has the right information... I've witnessed 2 FBO employees going back and forth about what the correct fee is or if there even is one. And of course we all know when you're on a big cross country you abruptly change destinations all the time and that often falls outside business hours when someone is manning the phones at all. Paying what you owe is fine but when I can go to a dozen different airports and pay nothing then randomly land at one and incur a fee >$100 there needs to be some kind of advance warning.

What we really need is a standardized way of listing prices(preferably one that feeds data to foreflight/other services). I should just be able to pull that up on a smartphone in a few seconds... not check 3 or 4 places and end up just having to call anyway.
 
MountainDude said:
What if they charged him $15,000? Do you still justify that? Where is the limit?
Fees should be transparent. They are not, because they can get away with it.
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I called 4 plumbers last week. Only one would tell me what it costs for them to install a water heater.

I have never called ahead to an FBO and not received what the accurate costs would be.
 
midwestpa24 said:
I often see this Grant Assurance thrown out in these conversations, understandably so from the owner/operator viewpoint.

But if you skip down from Grant Assurance #22 to #24, you find this nugget. "It will maintain a fee and rental structure for the facilities and services at the airport which will make the airport as self-sustaining as possible under the circumstances existing at the particular airport, taking into account such factors as the volume of traffic and economy of collection."
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The airport itself charges a $4 landing fee for my aircraft using Vector Planepass. I am 100% OK with this fee, as it's fair and reasonable. It also funds the airport and keeps it self sufficient.

For the city to lease ramp space exclusively to this FBO, restrict parking anywhere else on the field, then allow the FBO to charge arguably "unreasonable" monopoly-level prices... well, that's something else entirely. Other natural monopolies approved by municipalities (ie. power companies) are heavily regulated in regards to pricing.

My understanding of grant assurances is that the city is liable for ensuring that whoever they lease to is charging "reasonable" fees for access. How is this typically done on a city lease to an FBO, or is it? How can the city be responsible for ensuring "reasonable/non-discriminatory" pricing and access when they have given up all pricing control?

From FAA Grant assurances: https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/f...iance/assurances-airport-sponsors-2022-05.pdf

---
22. Economic Nondiscrimination.
a. It will make the airport available as an airport for public use on reasonable terms and without unjust discrimination to all types, kinds and classes of aeronautical activities, including commercial aeronautical activities offering services to the public at the airport.​
b. In any agreement, contract, lease, or other arrangement under which a right or privilege at the airport is granted to any person, firm, or corporation to conduct or to engage in any aeronautical activity for furnishing services to the public at the airport, the sponsor will insert and enforce provisions requiring the contractor to:​
1. Furnish said services on a reasonable, and not unjustly discriminatory, basis to all users thereof, and​
2. Charge reasonable, and not unjustly discriminatory, prices for each unit or service, provided that the contractor may be allowed to make reasonable and nondiscriminatory discounts, rebates, or other similar types of price reductions to volume purchasers.​
c. Each fixed-based operator at the airport shall be subject to the same rates, fees, rentals, and other charges as are uniformly applicable to all other fixed-based operators making the same or similar uses of such airport and utilizing the same or similar facilities.​
---

Given Signature and Atlantic's insane "event fees" that are becoming more and more prevalent at KLAS, and insane ramp pricing as mentioned here (including pricing based not on the size/weight of the aircraft, but based on the type of fuel it burns), there is either a nuance I am missing here that permits pricing like this, or simply nobody has bothered to challenge it?

Where is my misunderstanding?
 
Ventucky Red said:
Newsflash - they are not in business to lose money.. To the OP, you parked there, sound like you didn't do any due diligence prior to going, and didn't engage in any of their services.. then pay the man his money and chalk it up as an expensive lesson.

Try this out the next time

General Aviation's only database of airport fees and FBO fees for light aircraft - rampfee.me

rampfee.me rampfee.me

Onto the Should the list all of their fees... yes, I am all in for this.
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That site is terribly outdated. Some of the FBOs they list are no longer in business or no longer in business at that airport.
 
dans2992 said:
The airport itself charges a $4 landing fee for my aircraft using Vector Planepass. I am 100% OK with this fee, as it's fair and reasonable. It also funds the airport and keeps it self sufficient.

For the city to lease ramp space exclusively to this FBO, restrict parking anywhere else on the field, then allow the FBO to charge arguably "unreasonable" monopoly-level prices... well, that's something else entirely. Other natural monopolies approved by municipalities (ie. power companies) are heavily regulated in regards to pricing.

My understanding of grant assurances is that the city is liable for ensuring that whoever they lease to is charging "reasonable" fees for access. How is this typically done on a city lease to an FBO, or is it? How can the city be responsible for ensuring "reasonable/non-discriminatory" pricing and access when they have given up all pricing control?

From FAA Grant assurances: https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/f...iance/assurances-airport-sponsors-2022-05.pdf

---
22. Economic Nondiscrimination.
a. It will make the airport available as an airport for public use on reasonable terms and without unjust discrimination to all types, kinds and classes of aeronautical activities, including commercial aeronautical activities offering services to the public at the airport.​
b. In any agreement, contract, lease, or other arrangement under which a right or privilege at the airport is granted to any person, firm, or corporation to conduct or to engage in any aeronautical activity for furnishing services to the public at the airport, the sponsor will insert and enforce provisions requiring the contractor to:​
1. Furnish said services on a reasonable, and not unjustly discriminatory, basis to all users thereof, and​
2. Charge reasonable, and not unjustly discriminatory, prices for each unit or service, provided that the contractor may be allowed to make reasonable and nondiscriminatory discounts, rebates, or other similar types of price reductions to volume purchasers.​
c. Each fixed-based operator at the airport shall be subject to the same rates, fees, rentals, and other charges as are uniformly applicable to all other fixed-based operators making the same or similar uses of such airport and utilizing the same or similar facilities.​
---

Given Signature and Atlantic's insane "event fees" that are becoming more and more prevalent at KLAS, and insane ramp pricing as mentioned here (including pricing based not on the size/weight of the aircraft, but based on the type of fuel it burns), there is either a nuance I am missing here that permits pricing like this, or simply nobody has bothered to challenge it?

Where is my misunderstanding?
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Here is what you don’t understand:

1. The FAA requires airports to be self sufficient. The FAA doesn’t pay operational costs.
2. Operational costs at airports are supplied by fuel charges, building and ramp rents, landing fees, tickets charges and tax revenues from the residents of the city..
3. The FBO is the first good impression a business investor gets when visiting a city.
4. The cities want FBOs who can provide the best first impression by having a high quality facility and providing high quality services while paying as much as possible in rent and fuel charges to the city to reduce the airport burden on their tax payers.
5. Free parking areas do not support the city’s interests and increase operational costs for the city.
6. The FBO’s you find objectionable exist because they meet the demands of the airports.
7. Supply and demand applies when there are events around an airport just like they do hotels, which also increase their rates based on the increased demand,
 
I have often pondered this; should airports be providers of a service to their communities or should they be a business opportunity, a source of revenue to the governing body?
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I have often pondered this; should airports be providers of a service to their communities or should they be a business opportunity, a source of revenue to the governing body?
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The governing body (city or county) never gets revenue from an airport. At best is break even, usually it is a net loss.
What many pilots expect is the governing body to use subsidize their flying.

If you really want to know who pays for aviation in the US, it’s the ticket buying passenger. The guy flying for breakfast every Sunday paying $4 in aviation fuel taxes, not so much,
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
I have often pondered this; should airports be providers of a service to their communities or should they be a business opportunity, a source of revenue to the governing body?
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Just to clarify…is a pilot flying in from far away considered a part of “their communit[y]” to whom an airport owner should be “providers of a service” on that side of your question?
 
dans2992 said:
The airport itself charges a $4 landing fee for my aircraft using Vector Planepass. I am 100% OK with this fee, as it's fair and reasonable. It also funds the airport and keeps it self sufficient.

For the city to lease ramp space exclusively to this FBO, restrict parking anywhere else on the field, then allow the FBO to charge arguably "unreasonable" monopoly-level prices... well, that's something else entirely. Other natural monopolies approved by municipalities (ie. power companies) are heavily regulated in regards to pricing.

My understanding of grant assurances is that the city is liable for ensuring that whoever they lease to is charging "reasonable" fees for access. How is this typically done on a city lease to an FBO, or is it? How can the city be responsible for ensuring "reasonable/non-discriminatory" pricing and access when they have given up all pricing control?

From FAA Grant assurances: https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.gov/f...iance/assurances-airport-sponsors-2022-05.pdf

---
22. Economic Nondiscrimination.
a. It will make the airport available as an airport for public use on reasonable terms and without unjust discrimination to all types, kinds and classes of aeronautical activities, including commercial aeronautical activities offering services to the public at the airport.​
b. In any agreement, contract, lease, or other arrangement under which a right or privilege at the airport is granted to any person, firm, or corporation to conduct or to engage in any aeronautical activity for furnishing services to the public at the airport, the sponsor will insert and enforce provisions requiring the contractor to:​
1. Furnish said services on a reasonable, and not unjustly discriminatory, basis to all users thereof, and​
2. Charge reasonable, and not unjustly discriminatory, prices for each unit or service, provided that the contractor may be allowed to make reasonable and nondiscriminatory discounts, rebates, or other similar types of price reductions to volume purchasers.​
c. Each fixed-based operator at the airport shall be subject to the same rates, fees, rentals, and other charges as are uniformly applicable to all other fixed-based operators making the same or similar uses of such airport and utilizing the same or similar facilities.​
---

Given Signature and Atlantic's insane "event fees" that are becoming more and more prevalent at KLAS, and insane ramp pricing as mentioned here (including pricing based not on the size/weight of the aircraft, but based on the type of fuel it burns), there is either a nuance I am missing here that permits pricing like this, or simply nobody has bothered to challenge it?

Where is my misunderstanding?
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I would say that initiating a ****ing contest with the contractor could not have a positive effect on one’s ability to have that conversation with an airport owner.
 
MauleSkinner said:
Just to clarify…is a pilot flying in from far away considered a part of “their communit[y]” to whom an airport owner should be “providers of a service” on that side of your question?
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If people are flying in and staying the night, they are bringing economic benefit to that community.
 
Salty said:
If people are flying in and staying the night, they are bringing economic benefit to that community.
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^^^^^^ This.

I, as a pilot and aircraft owner have choices. If an FBO treats me crappy, and by extend the city or that part of the city does, I won't visit again. When I do visit, I spend at least two nights, $500 in hotel rates, food, rental car, etc. If I get fleeced at the airport, I won't return there. If the airport was reasonable, I most likely will come back and spend more. The example I gave above with the "door opening fee" B.S. - I landed there not exactly by choice (was a diversion). The town seemed nice enough though and I would have loved to come back and visit some time but due to how the FBO treated us, I won't. It's even more extreme now with our move to Texas. I've been writing to area airports and some just quoted outrageous monthly hangar fees. I make sure to not buy a home anywhere near those airports. Due to how the airport/FBO operates, they miss out on a family looking to spend six digits on a home, pay local taxes and contribute to the local economy for years to come. I can't imagine that's in the best interest of the municipality that owns the airport. I get supply and demand but let's go back to the example of the "door opening fee" B.S. airport - they're a 30 minute flight from a major airport. The FBO at that major airport charges $50 per night in the hangar and no "door opening fee". The B.S. airport was a ghost town compared to the nearby major airport so it absolutely had nothing to do with supply and demand. The hangar was empty. All they had in mind was taking advantage of someone they thought they could take advantage of. Some airports/municipalities unfortunately operate that way. Having said that, I've been to nearly 100 airports and FBOs and the vast majority of experiences were great.
 
Chrisgoesflying said:
The FBO at that major airport charges $50 per night in the hangar and no "door opening fee". The B.S. airport was a ghost town compared to the nearby major airport so it absolutely had nothing to do with supply and demand. The hangar was empty. All they had in mind was taking advantage of someone they thought they could take advantage of.
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Actually, there is a “supply and demand” difference. It costs way more than $50 or $100 to heat a large hangar, and especially to reheat it after opening the doors. A small airport FBO would probably rather lose a little bit of income than lose money by reheating the hangar twice.

The larger airport FBO most likely didn’t open and close the doors twice for every airplane in the hangar. More likely they had a hangarful of airplanes ready to pull in at once, which would cover the reheating costs.
 
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