MMU ramp fee

Just returned from Oshkosh to NY. Due to some "interesting" weather along
the route, it took 2 days and multiple stops, with some legs having to be
IFR.

Every FBO along the way was super, and at virtually all of them I bought
either fuel or something else.

However, at MMU, where I wanted to make a stop for a few minutes to take one
last look at a cell moveing near my home field, I found out what many of you
already have learned.

The FBO is Signature; I stopped (place was fairly empty, there was only one
other plane there that was not tied down), went in, looked at the weather
terminal, called FSS, and went back to the door. Surprise! It was locked.
I pressed buttons, nothing. Then a lady came to the counter and informed me
there was a $22 fee for coming there and I could leave as soon as I paid it.

Not a good feeling at all. Message received loud and clear: Stay away from
us!

Peter Gottlieb wrote:


Not a good feeling at all. Message received loud and clear: Stay away from
us!

Sorry, Peter. It's always a disappointment to read this kind of account.

Signature sucks. I will never patronize them unless I absolutely have to do
it. It was such a disappointment when they bought out Savannah Aviation's
fueling business. Of course, the prices went sky high, the service dropped, and
a field monopoly was formed. As a result I no longer consider Savannah a
suitable enroute alternate. Nice folks, nice town, all off-limits now.

Make it a point to punish them on airnav.com. Kerosene burners read (and leave)
comments about bad FBOs too.

-Ryan
CFII-A/MEI/CFI-H

"Peter Gottlieb" wrote in message
news
However, at MMU, where I wanted to make a stop for a few minutes to take
one
last look at a cell moveing near my home field, I found out what many of
you
already have learned.

The FBO is Signature; I stopped (place was fairly empty, there was only
one
other plane there that was not tied down), went in, looked at the weather
terminal, called FSS, and went back to the door. Surprise! It was
locked.
I pressed buttons, nothing. Then a lady came to the counter and informed
me
there was a $22 fee for coming there and I could leave as soon as I paid
it.

Yep... MMU has really changed since Signature got their new terminal built
there. They're pretty much hell bent on pricing out all non Jet-A equipped
planes from the market. They've already squeezed out the flight school I
attend (moved to CDW), and with the prices they charge for fuel, it's highly
doubtful that many x-country prop jobs will be stopping there enroute. It's
a real shame. Last year around this time, the pattern was always filled with
single engine Cessnas and Pipers, lots of students coming and going, in and
around the larger biz jets. Now all I see in and out of there are the biz
jets... hardly ever spot a small plane, and I drive past the approach end of
runway 23 every day to and from work.

The one good thing I can say about the field is that the guys who run the
tower are a first-class group. They are always on top of their game, and if
you make a mistake, they work with you to get things sorted out, instead of
berating you like certain controllers at other nearby fields do.
*ahem*cdw*ahem*. I really miss the quality of service that they provide, so
I try to do touch & goes there every once in a while. But I'll never, ever
get fuel from Signature, let alone park on their ramp... their attitude is
that the only people that matter are the ones flying the big jets. They've
got a really sweet deal too from the local government... I think they (or
DM, the airport managers), pay a ridiculously low price of $100k a year to
Morristown... and it's a 99 year lease. There's absolutely no excuse for the
way they treat the smaller guy there except greed. IMO.

--
Guy Elden Jr.

"Guy Elden Jr." wrote:
There's absolutely no excuse for the
way they treat the smaller guy there except greed. IMO.

I've often seen this charge made against Signature and others. My question
is, if it's true, why are they doing it? How does it hurt their business for
small prop airplanes to stop and buy fuel?
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

"Peter Gottlieb" wrote in message
news
The FBO is Signature; I stopped (place was fairly empty, there was only
one
other plane there that was not tied down), went in, looked at the weather
terminal, called FSS, and went back to the door. Surprise! It was
locked.
I pressed buttons, nothing. Then a lady came to the counter and informed
me
there was a $22 fee for coming there and I could leave as soon as I paid
it.

Most places that's called "unlawful detention".

"Dan Luke" wrote in message
...
"Guy Elden Jr." wrote:
There's absolutely no excuse for the
way they treat the smaller guy there except greed. IMO.

I've often seen this charge made against Signature and others. My question
is, if it's true, why are they doing it? How does it hurt their business
for
small prop airplanes to stop and buy fuel?
--

Make' em get off their ass. With the economy and travel being what it is
today, they must being looking to join that fraternity of the 94% of
businesses that fail. (94% of businesses fail within their first seven
years).

"Gary L. Drescher" wrote in message
et...
"Tom S." wrote in message
...

"Peter Gottlieb" wrote in message
news
The FBO is Signature; I stopped (place was fairly empty, there was
only
one
other plane there that was not tied down), went in, looked at the
weather
terminal, called FSS, and went back to the door. Surprise! It was
locked.
I pressed buttons, nothing. Then a lady came to the counter and
informed
me
there was a $22 fee for coming there and I could leave as soon as I
paid
it.

Most places that's called "unlawful detention".

Only if the front door's locked too.

In reading it again, I don't see any other door mentioned.

"Tom S." wrote in message
...

"Gary L. Drescher" wrote in message
et...
"Tom S." wrote in message
...

"Peter Gottlieb" wrote in message
news The FBO is Signature; I stopped (place was fairly empty, there was
only
one
other plane there that was not tied down), went in, looked at the
weather
terminal, called FSS, and went back to the door. Surprise! It was
locked.
I pressed buttons, nothing. Then a lady came to the counter and
informed
me
there was a $22 fee for coming there and I could leave as soon as I
paid
it.

Most places that's called "unlawful detention".

Only if the front door's locked too.

In reading it again, I don't see any other door mentioned.

Well, there's no mention of walls either, so I guess Peter could've just
walked around the locked door.

"Dan Luke" wrote in message
...
"Guy Elden Jr." wrote:
There's absolutely no excuse for the
way they treat the smaller guy there except greed. IMO.

I've often seen this charge made against Signature and others. My question
is, if it's true, why are they doing it? How does it hurt their business
for
small prop airplanes to stop and buy fuel?
--


I would guess that they see their profit in servicing the high end of GA and
are aiming to monopolize that market by targeting fields they see as
strategic. To them, small GA planes are an annoyance and in order to make
their target minimum profit per plane they have to either charge a large
amount for fuel or hit you with a significant ramp fee. They want to be a
private network of terminals for fractional jets.

I do not contest that it is expensive to build, maintain, staff and supply a
quality FBO. However, when large numbers of customers are shocked by out of
line charges and make a conscious decision to avoid a certain chain of FBOs
it is not a good thing for anyone. If they had charged me maybe $5 for
dropping by I wouldn't have felt ripped off and would consider returning.
Some days I would only buy a couple of sodas and look at the weather
computer, other days I would top off my tanks and maybe buy some plates for
an area I am heading into and they would on average make some bucks from me.
Now if they keep away a lot of the GA fleet they are not making a lot of
money. One of the line guys said it was very quiet there with not many
planes showing up. I'm sure they are running that operation at a loss. Now
if they could make it real attractive for more of the GA population they
might very well be able to make a profit, but with the way they acted, I'm
not so sure I'd want that.

I'll tell you one thing, though. If I ever find myself stopping at
Signature again I am sure as heck getting my money's worth out of them in
services.

If I ever find myself stopping at
Signature again I am sure as heck getting my money's worth out of them in
services.

Hard to eat $22 worth of popcorn. G


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