WARSAW — With numerous fluctuations in the cost of oil and gas prices, how exactly are pilots and the Warsaw airport faring?

Turns out, fuel sales are on the rise.

News Now Warsaw reached out to Warsaw Municipal Airport Manager Nick King and learned that fuel sales are up significantly.

"We're not as volatile as auto gas," King said. "We still do have fluctuations, but we're actually up over 30 percent in fuel sales from last year, year-over-year.

He says it's a result of economic development, namely the soon-to-begin operation's of Slate Auto, the electric vehicle startup company that is in the midst of opening a manufacturing facility on Old Road 30, and Autocam Medical, an orthopedic firm that's building a new facility along US 30.

“As we see these new companies coming into town like Autocam, Slate, we are seeing a big uptick in aircraft traffic,” King said.

Slate Auto has headquarters in Michigan and California.

Autocam headquarters are near Grand Rapids, Michigan.

Both companies expect to begin production later this year. Combined, the two job sites are expected to generate about 2,200 jobs.

Revenues from fuel sales go to support airport operations, and 5% is set aside for capital improvement projects.

King also offered some other news about airport activities.

Self-serve

Plans to establish a self-serve fueling station for pilots are back on track.

The change would allow pilots to fuel their aircraft much like a gas station any time of day, 24/7, with the use of a credit card.

A tank for the project arrives this week, but the airport still needs to meet some permit-related requirements, King said.

King said he believes it will be ready for use later this year.

He’s uncertain how much demand there is for self serve, but is optimistic.

He said he thinks it could be popular with pilots who like to go flying in the early evening after getting off work.

"We could potentially “see a pretty big increase,” he said.

Agri-business

The airport is also seeing to boost traffic from crop dusters and recently approved discounts for ag-related fuel sales as a way to offset struggles for farmers who have been hard hit by rising diesel prices.

"The fuel price affects them a lot more than it does a lot of the businesses, and so my board actually authorized a pretty steep discount for agri-flight aircraft," King said.

The new discounts went into effect last week.

He said he believes its a way to help out the local ag community."

Also last week, the city board of works approved a plan to accept $500,000 from Kosciusko County Commissioners for use at the airport, marking the third consecutive year for identical contributions from the county.

The money comes from the county's economic development income tax and will be used for the second of a three phase improvement project on one of the runways.

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