Originally Posted by PRS Guitars

Are you an independent contractor? For a flying club/school? What are you doing to actively increase your clientele? I instructed long before social media existed, but I basically hung out at the counter of our flight school and talked to as many prospective students as I could. I gave them a free demo ride (they paid for the plane of course). I also relied on word of mouth advertising from my current students.

You’re job when you’re not flying is to build your clientele. Once your schedule is close to full, you raise your price for new students since you’re in demand at that point. You actually have an advantage as a 38 year old because people will assume (wrongly) that you have more experience, and they value that in an instructor. Never talk about “time building” for the airlines, but rather your love of instructing.

Also fill in for your fellow instructors when they are on vacation. If you’re at a part 141 school, become a phase examiner or pre solo examiner if you’re school requires that.

Edit:

You can instruct in the winter. I instructed in Colorado and would go out in the afternoon or evening after a snow storm and brush off the airplanes that my students had reserved for the next morning. I didn’t do it out of the goodness of my heart, but rather to put food on my table. It worked well.