Dear Jetcareers CFIs:

I work at an FBO-style flight school. That is, while I'm not necessarily responsible for advertising my flight instruction services, management doesn't provide me with a pipeline of students and a regular schedule. We cater primarily to leisure flyers and professionals who want to fly themselves for business, though we do have a few "career" types.

My question is that often my students will be gung-ho for a week, flying every day and keeping food in my mouth and then--poof--they disappear for a month or two. I try contacting them--to no avail--and, just as I'm ready to write them off, they've scheduled me for another full week of training. Obviously, this wreaks havoc on my schedule and personal budget. I'll be sitting on my hands for two weeks and then suddenly three students will reappear in one week and complain that my schedule is too full to fit them in. I had one student show up for the first time in five months the other day, take two lessons, and promptly return to the aether. And that doesn't even get into how inefficient the long layoffs make training...

The other problem is managing my student load. The dozenish students I have, on paper, is more than I'd like to carry, yet I find myself sitting whole weeks with one or two flights scheduled. When a new student comes in the door, do I add them to my schedule or refer them to one of the newer instructors who don't even have students on paper?

So, Jetcareers CFIs, how have you dealt with similar situations in the past? The normal ebb-and-flow of students coming in and going away as they pass their checkrides or reprioritize their disposal income spending I can handle. These Escherish fluctuations perplex me.

What's the best way to accomodate irregular schedule students, and when is it appropriate to just tell them to get with the program or find another instructor?