I've just returned to the UK after spending a fortnight's holiday in Oregon. I haven't flown a single engine piston aircraft for years and so, when I saw a small airfield close to where we were staying, I said to my wife that I'd like to go up and have a fly round. The scenery was spectacular and I just thought that it would be fantastic to see it from the air. I went in and made the usual enquiries about fees etc., and I was amazed at how cheap it seemed. It was even less than I used to pay when I was training in England back in the early nineties, I hired a pristine Cessna 172, complete with instructor, for $85.00 per hour. That equates to approximately £42.50!
I've just got back in from a four sector day and the young, recently qualified FO that I was flying with was telling me that 18 months ago he was paying approximately £115.00 per hour for the same aircraft to train in the UK and with an instructor you can add another £15.00 to that bill
You have to ask yourself why there is such a massive difference in costs between the USA and the UK. People will point out to such things as landing fees, approach fees, fuel costs and so on, I know this. But what it really all comes down to in the end is that the value of anything is simply the price that the majority of people are willing to pay that makes a company the maximum profit. In Britain we are overpriced horrendously for many things without any reasonable justification and obviously flight training is included, but I never realised it was such a huge difference.
Here's what I propose you do about it. From a certain date, any date that you decide, make sure that no one pays for a flying lesson, hires an aircraft or takes an air test for at least one week. Let the GA airfields and flight schools across Britain fall silent. If that boycott doesn't bite hard enough then take another date and do the same again for two weeks.
I bet that the cost of your training will drastically reduce, you will have demonstrated that you are not prepared to be blatantly ripped off like this anymore. One or two weeks out of your training schedules won't be money lost either because if you are successful you will have a much reduced fee for the rest of your training. Show them that you are not just cash cows and start a revolution, a price war where you, the customer, are driving down the costs to the reasonable level of your American counterparts
I'm off now to get some
I just had to write this when I realised how exploiting the UK flight training industry is.