In my opinion, the biggest problem for flight schools lies in the difficulty of attracting and retaining students, as you said earlier.
Finances are an important factor. I know a number of students who would like to become involved in the industry as pilots, engineers or in other roles. But they do not have the financial means to do so, since the cost of the training is very high. It is a major problem.
Another point I would like to emphasize is regulation. I firmly believe that there has to be a good regulatory oversight system, but the government has limited resources for work of that kind. Transport Canada would help a number of companies if it provided them with studies and product information and if it enforced very stringent regulatory oversight. At the moment, the greatest obstacle we have to face in Gander is the difficulty in obtaining good service from Transport Canada, both for our students and for our company.