Modeling the impact of fuel price on the utilization of piston engine aircraft

Fuel price does have a significant impact on the utilization of piston aircraft. As the fuel price takes a larger portion of personal disposable income, both the utilization rate and PSA of piston engine aircraft will decrease. SEP aircraft is more sensitive to the relative fuel price than MEP aircraft. The growth of economy is another important factor that is positively correlated with the utilization of piston engine aircraft. In the models, this factor has a greater impact on MEP aircraft.