You have the cost per hr coming in @£60 per hr on aoc charges alone by 2011 ? And that is on R44 ? What are the other costs imposed on you ? I know of some co,s whose fees are going up to £40k AND they have to pay to have extra staff do all the paperwork that is imposed ..thereby coming to probably £60k plus !!!! I guess you then have to add on all the extra courses that are so necessary ...dangerous goods , dunker, survival, first aid etc etc Dont get me wrong some of it is good and sensible but some is not . Where is the logic in a flight being deemed safe and acceptable for you and your wife and kids ...but not for the next door neighbour who chucks you £100 ?? You can all go into Battersea without floats ...but not him ..you can fly at night but he has to get a twin !!!! Daft
Most non self fly flying in the UK in singles is either lease or dodgy charter i would guess . The dodgy charters are just breaking the law and probably skimp on maintenance and are flown by a ppl or faa cpl but the lease flights are probably identical to the aoc ones ...ie same aircraft and same pilot . Where i am going is , why not get all these operators back into the fold with an aoc " lite" ...make them more accountable but without crippling them with costs and unwanted paper filling . I would be very happy to have an aoc on those terms and could then go out and market my services to the public and increase the hours flown . Bringing down the cost per aircraft but doubling the number paying would make total sense ...which is of course why it will never happen .
Sadly ( no offence ) a lot of you commercial pilots are not actually very commercial at all . You sit there and wait for a job . Go flying and come back and file papers and drink tea . ( especially if you are on a salary....) By the time you get off your arses to fight for your jobs they will be long gone and ,a bit like crop spraying ,...it will never be the same again .