DennisK
So why are we 'crusty old farts' with ten thousand hours instruction time, working for fifty quid an hour?
Have you tried charging (say) £100 an hour?
The starting-point is demand and supply. If demand exceeds supply, prices go up. If supply exceeds demand, prices go down. (There are variable factors, obviously.)
So, do you measure demand by demand for FI's generally, or by demand for an FI with something special to offer. (Actual demand, or potential demand with proper marketing.)
If there is demand for a well-known FI's services, he (broadly) has 2 options:
charge the average FI rate and sell more lessons than the average FI;
charge more than the average rate, pitching his fees at a level which keeps him as busy as he wants to be but not so high that there isn't enough demand.
There seems to be little if any difference between the rate for relatively low hours FIs and the rate for FIs with ten thousand hours instruction time and excellent reputations. There could be, and arguably should be.
In the sports world, the more experienced the coach, the higher the charge.
Ladies tell me prices even increase in hairdressing salons depending upon the status of the shampoo artist. (But Ramone/Jason/Nicky is, of course, worth every penny he charges.
)
There are some names with constantly come up in this forum and elsewhere when people ask for recommendations - sometimes for beginners, more often for CPL, IR and FI instructors.
eg In the UK, yourself at Shoreham, Mike Smith at HeliAir, Leon Smith and Mike Green at Helicopter Services, Al Gwilt for Gazelle conversions etc
Do top FI's charge more than the average? I doubt it.
Is it because they know people wouldn't, or couldn't afford to, pay the extra, or because they haven't tried?
Do the 'crusty old farts' with thousands of instruction hours do enough to market themselves as being worth more than newbie FIs? I don't think so.
Beginners might not know the 'big names' - but they would with marketing.
Would beginners be prepared to pay more for DennisK and other FIs in his league to teach them?
I don't know. Some would (I would); others might think it's not worth it at the basic stage - wrongly IMHO.
David Leadbetter's standard fee of $10,000 per one day lesson ... and he's fully booked for three months.
Is David Leadbetter teaching beginners, or coaching already experienced players who want to improve and are willing (and able) to pay for a top coach to teach them?
I'm not suggesting any FI could charge those stratospheric fees because I don't think there would be the demand, but I suspect there'd be people prepared to pay way over the average FI rate for a 'big name' to perfect or advance their handling skills.
eg
FI, qualified 2 yrs, 400 hrs total, 200 hrs instruction @ £40
pr hr.
FI, qualified 30+ yrs, 13000 hrs total, 10000 hrs instruction, former World Freestyle Aerobatic Champion @ £100
pr hr.
or instead, go for a different market ....
CV as above: Master Classes (licenced pilots only) @ £250
pr hr.
Just some random thoughts in response to an interesting question.
FL