Flying J plaza safe

Though Flying J Inc. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Dec. 22, the local plaza appears to be safe – for now.

The company owns and operates hundreds of service plazas in the United States and Canada.

“Flying J is one of our top 10 revenue makers in retail sales,” Corning City Manager Steve Kimbrough said. “It is very important to the city’s economy and sales-tax income, with its very high volume of service.”

Ashley Degooyer at Flying J headquarters in Ogden, Utah, said, “We are not closing any of the plazas right now. The filing of Chapter 11 will not affect any of the travel plazas. It will be business as normal.”

Flying J in Corning employees more than 100 people, Kimbrough said, noting that the travel centers have been very good for Corning. The company came to Corning in December 2005.

Private oil company Flying J Inc. filed Monday for reorganization under U.S. bankruptcy laws, citing the collapse in oil prices and tight credit markets as the roots of its financial troubles.

The closely-held Ogden, Utah-based company said the bankruptcy protection applies to itself, its refinery operations and a refined-products pipeline. Its other units, which include an oil exploration and production business, aren’t included in the filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware.

Flying J, one of the 20 biggest private companies in the country, is among the first in the energy sector to file for bankruptcy.

“During the fiscal year 2007-08 the city received $2.7 million in sales tax revenue, of which $1.2 was from fuel sales and traveler services. That is very important to the city’s overall $4.8 million in revenues,” Kimbrough said, “especially when you figure that into our last year’s total budget of $5.1 million.”

“Many cities have seen a decline in sales revenue due to a drop in retail,” he added, “but because the travel center’s sales are mostly from travelers off the freeway, there hasn’t been any significant drop in sales for them - thus in revenues for us.”

The local enterprise offers fuel services for both diesel and non-diesel vehicles, a restaurant, convenience store and trucking services.

 “The scope of the filing is limited to its Big West refining and Longhorn Pipeline subsidiaries,” according to a release from Flying J headquarters.

A Flying J fuel-truck driver - who asked to remain anonymous - said, “I’ll just be happy to keep working and bringing home a paycheck. That’s all I can say.”

He said a company memo told employees not to say anything about the Chapter 11 filing.

Jack Gill, a big-rig driver from Canada, fueling his truck in Corning, said he hadn’t heard anything about Flying J filing for Chapter 11, but he is hopeful the restructuring does not affect the West Coast.

“I always get my fuel at Flying J. I like their service, and I can get everything I need at one stop. When I leave Canada, I stop at the Flying J in Tacoma, Wash., then here in Corning, Lodi and finally at Bakersfield. I would hate to see any of those places closed,” Gill said.

The corporation blames the “precipitous drop in the price of oil and the lack of available  financing from its traditional sources due to disrupted credit markets,” the release said.