Flying Training is in Decline Because....
PPrune Towers hit it on the head - agree with it all.
It's also in decline because most advertising and promotion focus's on aviation as a career - not as a means to other ends such as sport, travel,individual skills development. Maybe there needs to be more promotion of aerobatics, and formation to name a couple of real skills available to any PPL.
But, in many cases it probably comes down to a perception of being too hard, rather than too costly.
happy days,