Originally Posted by Cubdriver

It may seem like a waste to give people who really cannot cut it a bunch of wasted sim sessions, but Lakes (1) uses cheap level C sims run by low cost operators, and (2) tosses weak pilots out of those sims after only a few sessions. Most airlines use Level D sims such as those offered by Flight Safety, Simuflight, CAE etc. and while level C is still somewhat expensive to rent, probably more than a thousand per hour, it is an outdated machine using 80's technology with spotty online performance. But it is far less than the normal modern Level D sim costs per hour to lease. Last I heard there are only a couple of working Beech 1900 sims left in the world. Ground school only costs whatever they pay an underpaid FO to sit and click through a million powerpoint slides. I would venture a guess Lakes spends less than 3 grand on most washouts. As a business model it works fine as long is there is an abundant supply of pilots to pick through, which is exactly what they did until the supply suddenly dried up due to Colgan 3407 legislation.