High Fuel Costs Hit Georgia Flight Schools: Speedway on CBS News Atlanta

A student pilot can skip a road trip, but they cannot skip a flight hour. That is why rising fuel prices land so hard on flight schools, and it is the heart of a recent story on CBS News Atlanta.

The news piece featured our Chief Flight Instructor Jordan Morris. It explains what the price spike means for the people who fly, and for the people who teach them. Below is the bigger picture and what it means if you are thinking about learning to fly.

Fuel Prices Have More Than Doubled in a Year

Jet fuel has passed $200 a barrel. That is nearly $5 a gallon, and more than twice what it cost a year ago.

Most of us feel fuel prices at the pump. You grumble, you combine errands, and you drive a little less. Airline passengers can do the same by flying less often.

A flight school has no such choice. Airplanes burn fuel every time a student takes the controls, and most training happens in the air.

Why Student Pilots Cannot Simply Fly Less

Every pilot certificate has minimum flight hour requirements set by the FAA. A private pilot certificate, for example, requires at least 40 hours of flight time under Part 61. Part 61 is the set of FAA rules that governs most flexible, one-on-one flight training. Most students need more than the minimum to reach checkride standards.

So a student cannot trim the bill by cutting hours. The hours are the training. When fuel costs rise, that extra money gets spent whether the student wants to spend it or not.

Flight schools sit in a tight spot too. We buy fuel on-site, at the airport, so we have little room to shop around or wait out a price swing. The airplane needs fuel today, and the price is the price.

How Speedway Handles It Without Cutting Corners

We had a clear rule when prices climbed. Safety and the quality of instruction do not change. The safety standards our students train under stay the same. Not the preflight. Not the briefing. Not the maintenance schedule. Not the time your instructor spends on a debrief.

To keep those standards intact, Speedway Flight Training uses a fuel surcharge. It passes along exactly what fuel costs go up, no more. We do not use fuel prices as a reason to raise our margins, and we do not shorten lessons to save gallons.

That approach keeps things clear: the cost of the fuel is the cost of the fuel. If prices drop, the surcharge goes down with them.

What Comes Next for Flight Schools

Schools across Georgia are hoping for relief at the pump. Prices have moved up fast, and they can move down.

Many are also looking ahead. Newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft can run on unleaded fuel, the same kind of fuel that goes in a car. Moving toward those aircraft could help schools control costs over the long term, and it is a direction worth watching across general aviation. For now, our students train in the Cessna 172s of the Speedway fleet, a proven trainer, while we keep an eye on what comes next.

What This Means If You Want to Fly

Fuel costs are one line in a training budget. They are not a reason to give up on the dream of becoming a pilot, and they are not a reason to guess at what you will pay.

Here is how to plan with eyes open:

• Ask any school how it handles fuel. A clear answer, like a surcharge tied directly to fuel cost, beats a vague one.
• Plan for the whole program, not one lesson. Our Private Pilot program breaks down the hours so you can see the real range.
• Fly consistently. Students who fly often tend to retain more between lessons, which can help keep total hours closer to the minimum.
• Explore your funding options. Scholarships, financing, and a steady savings plan all make the number easier to carry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why are flight lessons costing more right now?

Fuel is one of the biggest costs of running a training aircraft. Jet fuel has more than doubled over the past year, and flight schools buy fuel on-site with little room to negotiate.

Does a fuel surcharge change the quality of my training?

No. At Speedway, the surcharge exists so we can protect safety and instruction quality. It covers the increase in fuel cost and nothing else.

Can I reduce the hours I need to save money?

No. The FAA sets minimum flight hours for each certificate, and those standards exist for good reason. What you can control is how consistently you fly and how prepared you arrive.

Will fuel prices come back down?

Nobody can promise that. Schools, including ours, are hoping for lower prices and watching more fuel-efficient aircraft that can use unleaded fuel.

A Note of Thanks

We are grateful to CBS News Atlanta for shining a light on the pressure fuel costs put on flight schools, and to Jordan for representing our crew so well. Most of all, we are grateful to our students. They keep showing up, keep studying, and keep flying, even when the price of the journey climbs. That determination is what makes this work worth doing.