July 28th, 2008
With Sunday’s sold out flight to Indianapolis and an Aug. 10 Niagara Falls trip selling out over the weekend. RFD has sold out five day trips in eight attempts (including the failed trip to Bowling Green). That’s 655 outbound passengers in five weeks the airport wouldn’t have otherwise had. Here are the latest numbers on the remaining two trips:
- Aug. 7. to Mount Rushmore:
56Â 75 80/131 seats sold (as of 4 p.m.). Only six seats sold over the weekend. Probably not as many as airport officials hoped, and we’ll see how long they’ll keep trying on this one. If you’re interested, decide fast because it might not happen otherwise.
- Aug. 14 to Mackinac Island:
110 114 122/131 seats sold (as of 4 pm). People like fudge.
July 28th, 2008
Oil prices increased to as much as $125 a barrel before coming back down a bit today. Now they’re fluctuating and sitting around $124, a net increase for the day. There are signs oil could keep falling - U.S. demand is way down and some other countries are indicating they’re seeing either a drop or a reason to cut subsidies. Venezuela is selling oil to its friends at around $100 a barrel.
There are signs it could go up, though. Energy trader Phi Flynn notes news of Iran ramping up its nuclear program and the ever-present problems in Nigeria as reasons for a possible bounce.
It seems, though, that gas prices could continue to fall. The much-reported Lundberg Survey shows they’ve dropped 11.7 cents a gallon in two weeks and are at the lowest level since May 16.
AAA’s Geoff Sundstrom predicts prices could drop 25 cents by Labor Day.
“People say typically prices shoot up like a rocket, fall like a feather. But this time … it looks like it’s different,” Sundstrom said. “The retail sector is interested in bringing these prices down as fast as they can to stimulate business in their convenience stores.”
Our gas prices have actually fallen faster than the natural average (Numbers courtesy of AAA’s fuelgaugereport.com):
Gasoline: Rockford dropped almost two cents this morning to $3.83 a gallon, a 37-cent drop in 12 days and the lowest since May 13. We’re eighth in the state in gas prices, as some other metro areas have gotten the hint. The Illinois average dropped more than a cent to $4.04, a 22-cent drop in 11 days and the lowest since May 22. The national average dropped below $4 over the weekend, decreasing one cent to $3.96 today and 16 cents in 11 days. Illinois has the 14th-highest gas prices in the nation (including the District of Columbia).
Diesel: Rockford dropped more than two cents to $4.66 a gallon, down more than nine cents in the past month. We have the seventh-highest diesel prices in the state. The state average dropped almost two cents to $4.75, down 11 cents in 11 days.. The national average dropped more than a cent to $4.74, down 11 cents in 11 days. Illinois has the 21st-highest prices in the country (including the District of Columbia).
