A third fuel retailer has announced plans to sell GAMI's G100UL unleaded avgas and in many ways it couldn't be farther from the existing California facilities offering the fuel. Tupelo Aviation Unlimited, in the heart of Mississippi says it will have the high octane lead-free alternative for retail sale in mid January at $6.99 a gallon, 45 cents a gallon more than full-serve 100LL, which it will continue to carry. CEO Corey Gillard said unlike California, where leaded avgas is a hot button political, legal and environmental issue, his was purely a business and marketing decision. "There are so few ways to differentiate yourself in this industry," he said. "We want to be a pioneer, we want to be a leader."
It is good to see some FBO’s taking interest in new products. Would be nice to see some FBO’s selling the UL 94 product so I could fly from Mississippi to California and not have to use the engine damaging 100LL fuel in my airplane.
I would think that if adding UL94 to an airport on my route across the country means taking business from an operator who was not offering a fuel that I preferred and lost of my business means the competitor might consider spending money to provide my preferred Fuel That would be competition. The Mississippi FBO operator in this article is creating competition by offering additional Fuel products and I find no problem with that. it is probably just healthy competition, which is good.