Profit Margins On Aircraft Training/ Solo hire rates?

[badboy raggamuffin]

Hi all,
Figured this might be the best place to ask this question, as I reckon u instructors are most likely to know the answer.
Say for example a flight school charges 135 pound per hour for hiring a warrior, how much of that is profit, and how much of that is taken up by fuel/ maintenance charges? ( Im thinking purely in terms of the aircraft costs,not taking into account other costs associated with a flight school eg Apron rental etc).

Cheers

[scubawasp]

Why are you only thinking in terms of aircraft costs??? If so why are you not considering all other costs, what are you actually asking for as it seems your more talking about private flying. If so you in the wrong part of the forum.

[jamestkirk]

Generally speaking, but i am sure someone will come back with an argument.

A flying school running a PA28 on a PPL training rate would probably make
c.£15-25 an hour out of a £135ph hour rate.

[20driver]

Some years back I was involved in renting at 172 at about $100 US per hour, no instructor.
Fuel, maintenance and the 100 hr check was around $60 per hours.
Insurance was 8K pa which tended to be another 20-30 per hour.
All these numbers will have gone up. That was fuel at $3/gallon!! I'm sure today in the UK this will all be higher in GBP
.
After instructor and overrhead there won't be a lot left on a warrior at 135 GBP per hour. 15-25 per hour sounds good if they can do it. It all depends on getting enough hours.
20driver

[fredfred]

I've just done my ppl at a UK school costing £139 per hour. i looked at the club accounts and I can tell you that the profit was nil. There's a deficit. For there to be a profit they would have to increase their turnover i/e more flying hours.

[FlyingForFun]

i looked at the club accounts and I can tell you that the profit was nil
Out of interest, how closely did you look at the accounts?

The school I used to work for (and I should point out I have no problem with them, they were, and I assume still are, an excellent school in every respect) made around £5/year profit every single year.

I never got to have a close look at the accounts, but to consistently make £5/year profit (never £50, and never a loss), I always wondered if there was some cooking of the books going on. The way I suspect this might have been arranged was by altering the maintenance costs. Since the maintenance company and the school were both owned by the same umbrella company, the amount the maintenance company charged the school for maintaining its fleet could be set at whatever the management wanted, without affecting the amount of money the boss (owner of the umbrella company) took home.

Just to stress, I have absolutely no proof of this, and I don't intend it to be read as an allegation. I'm just curious how closely you examined your school's books, and I give my thoughts as an example of what might be going on.

FFF
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[The Otter's Pocket]

You will find out a companies accounts if you go on the Companies House web site.