Our local flight school reported his business was down 40% this winter.
His variable expenses are down too, fuel, oil, maint, but his fixed expenses
for lease and insurance have not declined.

Our local Class D tower reports traffic count down by 50% average for the
last 3 months. They expect to loose staffing because of the decreased
traffic.

BT

"Jim Logajan" wrote in message
.. .
"By JAMES HANNAH, Associated Press Writer - Sun May 3, 1:49 pm ET

DAYTON, Ohio - Ivan Nogalo can often hear small planes buzzing over his
machine shop in Cleveland. "You want to be up there," the 33-year-old
said.

But Nogalo can't be. The would-be pilot has been grounded because the
economy has forced him to tighten his belt."

Rest of the story on Yahoo:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090503/...eltdown_pilots