Pain at the Pump
June 05, 2008 10:10 AM | General
June 5, 2008
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| Russ Sharp |
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – So how was that $75 in gas you just pumped into your SUV this morning on the way to work? Couldn’t keep up with those spinning digits either, huh?
Well, everyone is feeling the pinch of the rapidly rising costs of fuel as the price of a gallon of gas has exceeded $4 in many parts of the country. Some are predicting a gallon of gas could one day cost as much as $5. The sting of rising fuel costs is being felt everywhere. Today, Continental Airlines announced that it will cut 3,000 jobs and take 67 airplanes out of service because of higher fuel prices.
Shops and restaurants like Starbucks and Chili’s are experiencing fewer visitors due to the credit crunch, mortgage crisis and, you guessed it, fuel inflation.
Workers in major U.S. cities are beginning to use alternate means to get to work, including car pooling, riding bicycles and even telecommuting from home. Some companies are considering implementing four-day work weeks.
The effects of rising fuel costs are also being noticed in athletic departments around the country. West Virginia University Associate Athletic Director Russ Sharp has had to plan for the rising fuel costs in his 2009 athletic budget.
“I know our charter costs are going to be up for next year,” he said. “We are sort of seeing the continuing effects of the rising costs of fuel.”
Sharp said it’s not just the price of airline tickets that are impacted.
“We buy gasoline every day for our cars, trucks and everything else,” he said. “And we’re not just seeing it in travel. It’s the cost of everything. Our staff is feeling it at home and there is more pressure on them. There is more pressure on everybody.”
Sodexho, the department’s food management service, has had to deal with accelerating costs due to soaring fuel prices.
“They are seeing an impact with their suppliers,” Sharp said. “They are obviously buying in tremendous bulk but they’re seeing it because it is being passed on.”
Of course the most immediate impact remains in the travel industry, where West Virginia University, unlike urban schools, has a greater distance to travel to fly and participate in athletic events.
“The cost for airline tickets is soaring,” said WVU travel coordinator Tammy Cavender. “Our cost for charters has soared. When Delta sent us the contract for the prices this year their rep said, ‘I’m sorry but gas has gone up 60 percent.’”
Bussing is still the primary method of travel for most varsity sports at WVU. Cavender said those costs are rapidly increasing as well.
“A round trip to take a team to the Pittsburgh airport is now approaching $1,000,” Cavender said.
Sharp said his department continues to monitor what has essentially been a moving target.
“We forecast that our travel costs were going to increase at a higher rate than they have been increasing,” he said. “We did that going into next year. We also projected that our utility costs are going to go up at a much higher rate than they’ve been going up. We pay utility bills and all of those have gone up as well.”
Even incidental things like checking extra bags for flights have become an issue. United Airlines charges $50 for each extra bag while U.S. Airways charges $25. This is not an issue for teams that fly charter. However, the vast majority of long-distance department travel is done on commercial airlines.
“The baseball team encountered that on their trip back from Florida,” Cavender said. “Southwest let them through but I had to break up the team because there were not enough seats on the Southwest flight. Nine of them had to come back on U.S. Airways. Those nine were charged $25 for each extra bag.”
It wasn’t just nine extra bags being checked in but rather many more than that because the team had all of its equipment in addition to personal luggage.
Cavender said rising costs are something schools are just going to have to deal with.
“What are you going to do? You can’t bus to Tampa,” she said.
If fuel and travel costs continue to rise, it could even one day impact how schools schedule games. Sharp said that’s probably still a long way off, though.
“We’re still going to Colorado,” he joked.
