Richman
JC’s Resident Curmudgeon
Hi Guys,
I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but A LOT of places are getting out of the primary instruction biz. Rental places are drying up too, slowly but surely. Usually the reason is for insurance.
IMO, the days of the FBO "school/rental" shop and small to medium sized schools (5-25 airplanes) places are on the way out. Your going to wind up with very small "strip mall" schools (1-5 AC that don't rent to non-students), private renters clubs ($$$ up front for a "share") and huge ticket mills like PanAm, Comair, FS, etc. that charge beux coup dinero.
Places with a nice rental fleet (2-3 152s, 3-4 172s, a couple of PA-28s of various horsepower, a couple of retracts like a 172RG or a 28R, and maybe a high performance bird or two (182, M201 or something of that ilk) are already non-existant in South Florida (a hotbed of GA activity too).
What's funny though is all the places offering "advanced" instruction. Its actually funny, because after a while, with no primary schools, there won't be anyone left in the pipeline to take "advanced" instruction.
JMHO,
Richard
I don't know if anyone else has noticed, but A LOT of places are getting out of the primary instruction biz. Rental places are drying up too, slowly but surely. Usually the reason is for insurance.
IMO, the days of the FBO "school/rental" shop and small to medium sized schools (5-25 airplanes) places are on the way out. Your going to wind up with very small "strip mall" schools (1-5 AC that don't rent to non-students), private renters clubs ($$$ up front for a "share") and huge ticket mills like PanAm, Comair, FS, etc. that charge beux coup dinero.
Places with a nice rental fleet (2-3 152s, 3-4 172s, a couple of PA-28s of various horsepower, a couple of retracts like a 172RG or a 28R, and maybe a high performance bird or two (182, M201 or something of that ilk) are already non-existant in South Florida (a hotbed of GA activity too).
What's funny though is all the places offering "advanced" instruction. Its actually funny, because after a while, with no primary schools, there won't be anyone left in the pipeline to take "advanced" instruction.
JMHO,
Richard