"You guys need to break down fixed costs (e.g. insurance) from variable/direct costs (e.g. fuel, 50hr checks, etc)."
WHY? this all has to be paid for by the customer or else there will be no school.
"500-1000 hours/year.
At that level of utilitisation, they could scrap those planes every year or two and still be quids in."
Unlikley they were scrapped! There are lots of school in the uk that put 500 plus hour a year on the planes. The ones that are putting much less than 300 hundered on will be supporting their hobby or going bust.
There are a few good clean light aircraft flying around with 20000 hours on them. Not sure why high ustilisation means an aircraft would be scrapped.
You can make one like new for a lot less than a new one.
