Why are flying lessons so expensive

[ryan]

Hey guys, what i said in the title, why are flying lessons so expensive?

 

[Cobalt]

My entirely uneducated and most likely wrong guess would be insurance. Followed by fuel costs? I don't know.

 

[simonpro]

Think about it.
Planes are pretty expensive, more so than cars (and driving lessons aren't cheap).
Fuel is expensive, and planes burn more of it than cars.
Insurance is expensive, more so than cars.
Finally, you need a skilled instructor. The more highly specialised and skilled a job the higher you have to pay someone (in general). Flight instruction is both very specialised and very skilled, so the rates to hire an instructor are correspondingly high.

 

[James.Denholm]

To add to what simonpro said, perhaps it's to keep the sport of flight exclusive.

 

[Belisarius]

The economics of the situation are always going to make it more exclusive than driving a car. And looking at all the nutters crashing into each other and hitting pedestrians outside my door, that's probably a good thing.

 

[ryan]

To add to what simonpro said, perhaps it's to keep the sport of flight exclusive.

What do you mean exclusive?

 

[liber]

Exclusive to people with bank account which have lot's of zero...

 

[Belisarius]

Exclusive as in: it excludes normal people who can't afford it.

 

[Notebook]

Exclusive to people with bank account which have lot's of zero...

My bank account has lots of zeros, in fact all the digits are zeros...

N.

 

[Jarvitä]

My bank account has lots of zeros, in fact all the digits are zeros...

N.

In that case, you're more than welcome to learn to fly, as a wise man once put it, by falling down and missing the ground.

 

[Notebook]

Tried it lots of times, usually on a Saturday night. Gave up.

N.

 

[Ghostrider]

In that case, you're more than welcome to learn to fly, as a wise man once put it, by falling down and missing the ground.

That's not flying, it's falling with style!

 

[liber]

My bank account has lots of zeros, in fact all the digits are zeros...

N.

In that case,stick to the Orbiter and other sim. :lol:

 

[Urwumpe]

my bank account already has imaginary numbers.

 

[pete.dakota]

It's terribly expensive here in the UK. For my PPL, £145 equated to a one hour of 'ground school', and about 50 minutes of actual flight. Whereas in the US, (before the £ v. $ slump; about 2 years ago) I would have paid an equivalent to around £100. I'm considering boarding at a flight school in Florida to do my CPL and ATPL as it's so much cheaper.

 

[Belisarius]

The 9/11 guys found it much more convenient and cheaper to do it that way too.

 

[Eagle]

For me it would cost about $4500-5000 to get a private pilot's license.

The cost is so high because so much needs to be rented or purchased (and the cost of aviation fuel is especially high).

The other half is to make it exclusive. The FAA DOES NOT want the majority of people to be able to fly anything. Also, in a self fulfilling prophesy, because private pilots are viewed as 'rich' (reality aside) they are a convenient target for politicians and regulators.

Meh, I'm just a little jaded.

 

[Deke]

Luckily for I, my high schoool had Air Force ROTC, and I was able to get mine free. The corses however, we more advanced. But even once you get a license, a day's flight in a rental Cessna still doesn't come cheap.

 

[Capt. Speirs]

Hey guys, what i said in the title, why are flying lessons so expensive?

Ummm, What do you consider expensive, the word itself is just an opinion? Try Rotary wing license, then we'll talk.:blink:

 

[ar81]

Finally, you need a skilled instructor. The more highly specialised and skilled a job the higher you have to pay someone (in general). Flight instruction is both very specialised and very skilled, so the rates to hire an instructor are correspondingly high.

So why do airline pilots earn crappy salaries if they are supposed to be specialized?

Even an astronaut won't be rich with an astronaut salary.