CYYZ,
The flight instructor is not the agent, he/she is the person who is providing the services. The school is the agent. So you see, as per your theory, the agent is keeping 55% of the income.
As for whinning, no one is ever content. If some instructors want to write about it, so be it. That doesnt mean that they dont love instructing. Would you rather go with an instructor who is underpaid or with an instructor whos pay is at par (assuming you as a student still pay $40 per hour!)?
In my school, which is part of history now, due to new visa requiremtns, we charged students US$15 per hour and we paid instructors US$15 per hour. I hope that clarifies what we instructors mean by shafting.
Anyway, good luck with your flight training.
Best Wishes,
Jatin Gaur
Oh and I almost forgot, your posting doesnt show the best attitude either!!
I had a problem with my flight school, I'd book the plane for 3 hrs and bring it back in an hour and they said "you booked it for 3 hrs and brought it back early, bad" they wanted to charge me. So the next day I picked up the plane flew to the another airport, left the plane there, flew back at night, the plane was gone for almost 10 hours, I was charged for "flight time" two hours, they don't tell me anything about bringing the plane back early. =)