Say again S l ow l y, I don't disagree that the market should change. I am fortunate in that it makes little difference to me if the price is higher, but I know an aweful lot (or is that a lot of aweful
) PPL's and low hours Professiosals who will fly any ole heap of junk based entirely on the price. While we have this situation the position will not improve as there will always be someone selling the product, whether it's just a/c rental or instruction, cheaper than someone else. It is not helped by the high cost of AVGAS etc, but we all pay that so it's not a price differenciator.
Look at it this way. If you are a top quality FTO with good a/c well paid motivated instructors and nice coffee, your own well paid team of licenced engineers to maintain everything to top spec, with perhaps a spare a/c to cope with the inevitable tech problems, charging say £200 an hour for a C152, the vast majority of recreational "I can only afford a few hours a month " PPL (which is most of them) will go to the bloke next door who owns no a/c but operates them for impoverished owners to a lower spec, serves poor coffee and employs bored airline pilots and ATPL wannabes who either do it for a bit of weekend fun or to get those hours in.
Turnover is all very well, and yes I know cash is the life blood of a business, but profit is king.
How about this for a blue print for the FTO for the 21st Century:
Quality aircraft - no riped seats no missing dials or nav boxes;
Full time dedicated instructors paid a good wage whether they fly of not and not some kid with a couple of hundred Warrior hours who has yet to develope either maturity of personality;
Full time always available engineering department with spares in stock;
Nice comfortable club/ training facilities with the latest a/v aids;
This is all do-able but not if FTO are doing low cost hire to meet the low cost needs of the vast number of student and private hirers, whether PPL's CPL or ATPL's. Get rid of the shell suit brigade, cater only to those people who can afford to fly and are not price sensative, and people who recognise that you get what you pay for and are prepared to buy quality.
Aviation is full of people whose aspirations exceed their ability to pay for it. Get rid of them and there will be fewer struggling FTO, marginal operations, bored wannebes waiting for the right job, and more demand, and therefore earning capabilty, for those of you left to fill the professional instructor role.