So what we seem to be accepting at the end of the depressing thread is that instructors will never be paid a living wage because schools cant afford to pay more as they will lose customers and that in France, instructors work for nothing which somehow keeps UK schools from putting up prices?
So why are many big (and some small) schools in Europe sub-contracting much of their training to the USA and elsewhere? what causes them to do this?, answer, the shortage of instructors which is not the case in the US. Its a catch 22. I don't accept in the current market customers would leave en-mass if they were asked to pay more for their flying, where are they going to go? It might be become a choice of either pay more, or stop training altogether if something doesn't change. If the schools continue to subsidize flight training at the expense of the instructor pay, things will only get worse in my humble opinion.
Foe anyone interested, I can secure (guaranteed) short and long term contracts for qualified EASA & FAA instructors (career minded an advantage) in the USA at schools undertaking flight training on behalf of European schools that don't have enough instructors to cope with demand... Pay starts at $30K for the newbie all the way up based on experience......PM me if you are interested.
As a lifelong supporter of UK flight training standards, I urge all those quality training establishments run by people dedicated to their profession, to charge customers a price commensurate with the value they are receiving and sufficient to pay instructors what they are worth otherwise I fear a continued demise. Please don't try and compete with cheap schools located in so called 'low cost' regions, sell the sizzle, assuming there is still some sizzle left to sell....quality maybe!!!
SJ