Hot air balloons sailing lazily across an open sky could soon become a thing of the past, and it’s all down to a lack of insurance.
“From my perspective, it’s been fairly steady as far as passenger rides go,” balloon pilot Gary Fehr told vueweekly, he cites a standard number of trips being approximately 70 per year. “What has been in a decline, though, is the number of people who are actually operating balloons. The regulations have changed; they’ve gotten a lot more stringent, so as with any type of thing where the government gets more and more involved, it becomes more costly. A lot of the people who started out in the ’70s and ’80s, they’re starting to lose their medical [insurance coverage] now, and there’s not as many people picking up the sport.”
A lack of coverage for the now-aging population of balloon pilots and ground crews (informally known as balloon chasers) could put a dampener on the passengers Fehr is used to flying with, many of whom are going aloft to celebrate a significant birthday while also crossing off a classic bucket list item. Others hope to make the occasion even more memorable: 34 of his passengers have popped the question while in his basket.
“Generally the guy will talk to me ahead of time and say, ‘OK this is what I’m planning.’ I tell him, ‘Well buddy, make sure she’s going to say yes before you do this, because if she says no, there’s no place to go,'” he says with a chuckle.
