You only gets what you pay's for !
As the director of a company that leases aircraft I have become increasingly aware of the business practices in this business that result in my company being undercut on price.
I was appalled at the reports on this forum of a company that did not have any insurance for the pilot renting the aircraft, presumably the only insurance on these aircraft was third party. Following an accident this resulted in an injured pilot being presented with an invoice for the value of the aircraft while still in his hospital bed.
Another issue is maintenance........ I know of a number of Cessna operators that are putting off doing the SID's checks that are due on flight time or calendar life by ignoring the small print in the documents and quoting the end date by which Cessna say the aircraft should be fully compliant.
What the insurance implications of skimping on maintenance are I'm not sure but I could not send a customer flying in an aircraft that I did not know was maintained to the correct standard.
It is very irritating to be undercut on price by people who deliberately break the rules and very hard to explain to a customer who thinks that all aircraft are maintained to the same standard because of EASA/CAA oversight.
What I am trying to say is that there is a minimum price that a sustainable reputable aviation company can operate and some on this forum think that this price is a rip off because they see other seemingly much better deals, but as with all things the devil is in the detail and trying to save a few quid in the short term may well cost you a lot.
Last edited by A and C; 25th Jul 2013 at 13:27.