July 30th, 2008
Oil prices jumped more than $4 a barrel today, after the Energy Department said gasoline supplies dropped by a surprising amount. The drop could mean Americans are driving more than thought, analysts said. Or it could just be a seasonal bump in demand. Goldman Sachs still says oil could hit $149 by the end of the year, but others said this was a bump before further declines.
Meanwhile, Phil Flynn is reappropriating Barry McGuire, and I can’t get the song out of my head.
Here are the prices, at least as of this morning. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. (Prices, as always, from AAAs fuelgaugereport.com.
Gasoline: Rockford dropped a cent to $3.80 a gallon, a 41-cent drop in two weeks and the lowest since May 10. We remain eighth in the state in gas prices. The Illinois average dropped more than a cent to just under $4.00, a 26-cent drop in two weeks and the lowest since late May. The national average dropped more than a cent to $3.93 today and 19 cents in two weeks. Illinois has the 14th-highest gas prices in the nation (including the District of Columbia).
Diesel: Rockford increased a fraction of a cent, remaining at $4.66 a gallon, down 11 cents in the past month. We have the sixth-highest diesel prices in the state. The state average dropped a cent to $4.73. The national average dropped a cent to $4.71. Illinois has the 22nd-highest prices in the country (including the District of Columbia).
July 30th, 2008
So, after stalling with 80 seats sold - only 61 percent - RFD canceled its day trip to Mount Rushmore. Too bad, people missed out on a great romantic getaway:
 (If was good enough for Cary and Eva…)
Would the trip have sold better if they used crop dusters?
In all seriousness, got some great comments from loyal readers on this subject, and wanted to respond to them with a full post…
Craig Knauss wrote:
Hopefully they will pick up some more people for Rushmore. Right now 61% of seats are sold. Please remember, it is not necessary to fill all seats on all flights. It’s great if you do, but I’ve almost never been on a 100% full flight, and I’ve been on at least 200 of them over the years. I think the airport should operate the flight as long as it doesn’t represent a big loss. And it doesn’t look good to just cancel flights when they aren’t full. A small one is tolerable when compared to the other successes.
Unfortunately, Craig, the rules have changed with high fuel prices. The airport is only operating these day trips to break even on full planes, not make money. Tickets for Rushmore were going at least $300 apiece so, that’s $15,000 in lost revenue. And there’s no windfall on those sold out trips to Niagara and Mackinac to back them up. The program is a marketing effort to keep RFD top of mind for consumers and airlines. If flights lose thousands of dollars, the program could end prematurely. So they’re making a calculated risk that it’s better to risk alienating some people with cancelations than to not offer the program at all, or to only go to “safe” destinations like Niagara. Tough times require creative solutions, and it appears to be working so far.
ANCJason wrote:
I’m really surprised that Rushmore isn’t selling better as well. It used to be that a 61% load would suffice, but those days are over. Mt. Rushmore would have been a great July 4th getaway, so if it doesn’t work out this time, maybe they will give it a chance next summer around that time.
I think you’ll see it tried again as an overnight trip yet this season, but that would be a great July 4 trip, you’re right. People are still getting used to the *concept* of day trips from RFD, so that’s part of it. I’m not overly surprised it didn’t work out, given the distance and price and relativley short window. But we’ll see what Bob and the gang have up their sleeves.
