Originally Posted by
Celeste
I'm already seeing this where I'm instructing. Our group of CFI's is relatively low time. The university is well aware of the fact that we aren't able to go anywhere because of new hiring minimums, so all of a sudden this semester we are required to work a lot of extra hours. We are now required to work 6 days per week minimum (if our students get behind because of wx we are supposed to come in on our day off but still have to show up on normal days regardless of weather, and our 'normal' work day got extended another hour (and with night flights we work even longer hours). Since we teach LOTS of sim and ground, we are only getting 250-300 hours of flight time per year (maybe we'll be up to 350 with the extra hours we are working), so many of these CFI's will be around for management to abuse for the next 3-5 years.
I really shouldn't complain because I have one of those coveted salaried CFI jobs. But when management advised us of the new policies, we inquired about how they could have us work all of the extra hours for the same pay and the answer was "We get resumes all of the time, we can always replace you if you don't like it." We figure that with the hours we are working it comes out to about $8.50/hour.
Maybe if I have a pessimistic view, but what I see happening is that instead of putting up with a year or two of crappy CFI pay and QOL, and then a rough first two years of low regional FO pay, I will just end up drudging through 4-5 years of it of awful CFI pay, followed by at least the same first two years of suck at the regionals.
This hurts. Really hurts. I was fortunate enough to get out of flight instructing this year and into 135 after 13 months of CFI'n. I couldn't have done 13 more months at the school I was at with the hours/pay/QOL (similar to yours) much less 3-5 years.
With this ATP rule I fear that what you see happening at your school will happen in similar fashion at other schools.
If I were you I would be searching hard, trying to find another job where you can fly more. Getting a CFI job is just going to get harder and harder with each day that passes. We are already seeing it at places like ATP. Rumor has it they are backlogged with CFI's.
If the best answer for you to get past flight instructing is more hours. I would be trying my hardest to work at a place that had me flying the most hours humanly possible. I'm not sure where that place is or what it takes to get a job there but 250-300 hrs a year with that treatment would NOT cut it for me in this post ATP rule marketplace. I simply would HAVE to be flying more.
Good luck to all low time CFI's out there. As one who has recently gotten over the "hump" im looking back now thinking about the position you are in and its not pretty. Do what you have to do to get the time as quickly as possible and GET OUT!