2008 WAS A SIGNIFICANT YEAR IN THE AVIATION INDUSTRY –

While flight departments were drastically cutting back or closing their doors, fuel companies continued to make big profits. AFC president, Mike Skelly, saw this as an opportunity to reposition himself in the industry-- allowing him to directly assist flight departments in successfully obtaining lower fuel prices than currently offered.

Today, flight departments continue to make commitments without knowing if they received the best possible price for fuel. This is really the backbone of what Aviation Fuel Consultants has to offer – peace of mind knowing you have a team of fuel experts in your corner.

My Aviation Career

A letter from founder mike skelly

I first discovered my passion for aviation while working with the HH-65 Dolphin helicopters, performing both Search & Rescue and Law Enforcement operations during my six years of service in the U.S. Coast Guard.

Upon my exit from the military, I furthered my education at San Jacinto College and Embry Riddle Aeronautical University from which I was recruited by Universal Weather & Aviation as a Flight Control Specialist. My job allowed me to work with many corporate flight departments while performing a full array of flight services such as: flight planning, landing & overflight permits, weather briefings, ground handling and fuel arrangements to name a few.

A couple of years later, I saw an opportunity for growth by accepting a position in the Flight Operations department with Baseops Int’l, a subsidiary of World Fuel Services, where I became a supervisor and signed off on every briefing that was sent out to clients during my shift. My strong work ethics in wanting to provide the best product and be the best I could be, ultimately landed me in the position of receiving a top-level promotion as an officer in the company.

Once again, I was presented with an opportunity that required much thought and consideration. Up for a new challenge, I accepted the position of Director of Operations with Colt International where I developed, implemented & managed the international flight operations department for Colt International’s corporate headquarters in Houston, Texas. This implementation made it possible for Colt’s headquarters to provide full international support to private and charter operations worldwide. I parlayed my position in flight operations to help in expanding Colt’s program worldwide.

I became Colt International’s top salesman for many years and was a million-dollar producer leading me to become Vice President of Sales. My 18-year career in the business aviation industry proved to be an asset to Colt, as I utilized my skills and experience to mentor Colt’s sales professionals. During my 13 years at Colt, the company had grown to become the largest and fastest growing contract fuel company, providing its customers with more airport locations worldwide than any other fuel provider. The trip support department I created earned Colt the honor of being voted by pilots as the No. 1 international trip support company in the world in 2012 as part of the ProPilot PRASE Awards.

Taking on the ultimate challenge, I made my dream a reality by founding, Aviation Fuel Consultants in 2013. During my 18 years of working on behalf of the fuel companies, I saw many areas where flight departments could benefit from my knowledge and expertise by becoming an advocate to ensure flight departments were maximizing their savings when operating aircraft worldwide. For years, flight departments have operated in complete darkness that the prices they receive for fuel and flight services are the best prices they can get. This was the motivation behind the creation of Aviation Fuel Consultants. The company provides the transparency needed to show flight departments the prices that can be achieved through further negotiations and provides these rates back to each flight department in the form of savings. Aviation Fuel Consultants also deals with the common problem of invoice mismanagement by both tracking & monitoring negotiated prices as wells as PLATTS to ensure each flight department is receiving the prices it deserves. Taxes also play a big part. These are verified to ensure the flight department is paying the correct taxes depending on the type of operation and where throughout the world the aircraft are operating.

The team at Aviation Fuel Consultants has expertise in fuel, international flight services, Part 91 & 135 operations. The company had the honor of taking part in FlyCorporate Magazine’s 2014 February edition, outlining Aviation Fuel Consultants as a solution to Aviation when purchasing Jet Fuel. The company has seen success from the very first year in business as flight departments are seeing substantial savings they didn’t know they could achieve! Not to mention, this program is at NO COST & NO RISK to the flight department.

I have devoted my career to the private aviation industry and take great pride in knowing the sole purpose of Aviation Fuel Consultants is to have the customer’s best interest at heart while working on their behalf to identify problem areas that impact the bottom line and implement corrective measures to ensure that flight departments are maximizing their savings.