What is a Fuel Surcharge?

The airline industry is having to cope with increasing fuel costs.  Flight training academies are also having to deal with the continual increases in aircraft fuel costs. 

Did you realize that aircraft fuel costs have risen more than 60% in the past year? Airlines are charging a fuel surcharge as part of their ticket prices. You might not realize it, but when the cost of your airline ticket goes up, it's likely that at least part of that cost increase -- if not all of it -- is the result of increasing aircraft fuel costs.

Just as the airlines do, flight training centers also often must charge an hourly fuel surcharge, just to keep up with rising fuel prices.  We'd all prefer this wasn't necessary -- the airlines don't like to raise prices, nor do flight training academies like to add fuel surcharges, but we're all forced to do so by the high, rising price of fuel.  If you drive a car, you know what's happened to the price of gasoline.  The same thing has happened to the price of aircraft fuel.