Find FBO fees before you fly

About 40,000 fees from fixed-base operators at airports around the country have been added to the directory since AOPA started an industrywide outreach campaign encouraging FBOs to post their fees in the directory. And more will continue to be added.

The directory includes information about more than 5,200 public-use airports in the United States and is viewed approximately 47,000 times each month by pilots planning their flights, making it the perfect place to make these fees easily accessible.

Pilots can access fees for participating FBOs by clicking on an FBO listed on an Airport Directory page and then scrolling down to the “fee details” section. There, pilots can filter fee listings based on the general kind of aircraft they fly, such as single-engine piston, multiengine turbine, or jet, to name a few. An AOPA member who is logged in to AOPA Online can elect to have the aircraft choice saved for future use.

The information upgrade was the product of a cooperative effort: AOPA staff analyzed fees across the FBO industry and consolidated 120 different types of charges encountered into 36 standardized types used by more than 95 percent of FBOs—fees for such items as after-hours service, engine preheating, hangar use, tiedown, deicing, and ground power unit (GPU) rate per hour, all including seasonal pricing differences and weekday or weekend fluctuations, said Eric Rush, director of AOPA’s Project Management Office.

About 30 percent of all fees listed in the directory have a cost modifier, such as a waiver, discount, seasonal difference, or upcharge. For example, many FBOs waive fees when pilots purchase a minimum quantity of fuel. These common cost modifiers are also noted in a standard format in the directory.

AOPA continues to advocate for FBO fee transparency to help pilots make the best choice of an airport or business to patronize at a destination and let pilots find out before their flight whether fees may be imposed even if no services are required.