what are we going to do about it
A club near here has changed from:
(a) being clearly a training operation where PPL hire was definitely way down the list of priorities ("well, you might be able to have a plane if they aren't all needed for lessons")
(b) running not-very-new 152s, well maintained and in good condition but some with non-working radio nav gear and none with GPS, and obviously useless for taking your mates for a ride (only one at a time, and you can't go very far if you're taking the maximum weight seriously)
(c) not doing any marketing either to potential pilots or to existing members, with "birthday present" type "trial lessons" being regarded as something of a distraction
to
(a) providing much better service to PPL hire members, with lectures, post PPL courses, fly-outs (with students along as well), and PPL hire treated as real bookings
(b) running new 172s with working radio gear and GPS; clearly this is largely with the PPL hire market in mind, as you don't need a four seater with decent radio gear for PPL training
(c) marketing themselves much better to existing members and potential new pilots.
Not all of us want to buy an aircraft, for at least the following reasons:
(1) From time to time it would be the wrong aircraft and/or it would be in the wrong place so we'd be hiring on occasion anyway, which would feel somewhat extravagent if we at the same time had a plane at home doing nothing.
(2) Hiring is less of a financial risk, and it's easy to stop if money unexpectedly gets tighter. Some pilots' partners may prefer this to having an expensive asset which runs the risk of needing unpredictable expensive repairs and would be difficult to sell for a decent price in the middle of the next recession when the money is needed.
So, I've got a local club who are directly catering to people who want to hire as PPLs, and that suits me fine at the moment.