AVGAS Is Your Biggest Variable Cost. Are You Actually Measuring It?

Nikhil Suresh · Published 2026-06-17

Fuel is usually the single largest variable cost per flying hour at an Indian FTO, yet many schools only see it as a monthly invoice. Per-aircraft, per-sortie fuel tracking reveals leaks that are easy to fix.

The invoice hides the story

For most Indian flying schools, AVGAS is the largest variable cost per flying hour — ahead of maintenance reserves, and often by a wide margin. Availability is limited, supply is concentrated, and prices move with little warning.

Despite this, many schools only see fuel as a single monthly invoice. The invoice tells you how much you spent. It does not tell you where the fuel went, which is the only question that leads to savings.

5–10% — Fuel spend commonly recoverable through tracking alone. An indicative range, before any change to fleet or supplier. The savings come from finding leaks, not from flying less.

Track fuel per aircraft, per sortie

The basic unit is simple: for every sortie, record fuel before and after, plus any uplift. Tie that to the aircraft, the instructor and the exercise flown. Within a month you can answer questions that were invisible before:

• Which aircraft burns noticeably more per hour than its sisters? (Often a maintenance signal — rigging, engine health or a sticking brake.)
• Which exercises consume more than expected?
• How much fuel goes on ground running and taxi versus actual flying?

Where the leaks usually are

Ground running and taxi

Long engine runs while waiting for a student, a slot or a clearance add up quickly across a fleet. Clear briefing and ramp discipline — start when ready, not when the aircraft is assigned — make a measurable difference.

Uplift that does not reconcile

Every uplift should reconcile against the supplier's delivery record. Small, repeated discrepancies are common and rarely noticed without a system that matches them automatically.

Tankering by habit

Filling to the top for a local circuit sortie means carrying weight you do not need. Fuel planning by exercise, within safe reserves, is both efficient and good airmanship.

Price fuel into your hourly rate properly

If your hourly rate was set when fuel was cheaper, you may be losing money on every hour without noticing. Once you know your real fuel burn per aircraft type, build it into pricing explicitly — and consider a transparent fuel surcharge mechanism so that price spikes do not silently erode margin.

Start this month

You do not need new aircraft or a new supplier. You need consistent per-sortie fuel entries and a monthly reconciliation. The first month of data almost always pays for the effort.