Originally Posted by pilotdilemma
I am a 37, married (with a newborn), former flight instructor (UND grad) with 920TT/50 multi, and I am considering returning to a flying career after 3 years of no flying whatsoever (I did renew my instructor license online "just in case").
I originally left an instructing job a little over 3 years ago discouraged because the east coast flight school was very slow, the industry was bad at the time, my debt level was high, and I was literally going broke.
Despite all that since I left I have missed flying tremedously and have found the grass is not always greener outside the industry except for a select handful of professions (like medical). I am currently working as a web designer which pays OK but is extremely hard on the eyes.
My questions are geared mostly to active regional guys and instructors.
1) Supposing I got current and returned to flying, how do you think I would be received considering some large breaks from flying (I also had a break while in school after running low on funds)? Is it even realistic to attempt this with the hope of making it to the regionals in few years?
2) What is the industry like now for instructors? I would likely want to instruct in a college program with a steady flow of students.
Any specific advice anyone can offer would be very greatly appreciated.
1) A single break from flying shouldn't be an issue. You can tell them the truth that for a while you weren't sure if that was what you wanted to do. As long as you are comitted now you should be fine. Basically, they want to avoid flakes...if you have had a lot of different jobs that didn't last long, dropped in and out of flying a couple times, did a semester at law school, spent 6 months in Bora-Bora...they would really wonder about that kind of history. I would expect any rational person to be very wary of getting into the flying profession, and would not hold that against them.
2) You shouldn't have any trouble getting an instructor job. The regionals are hiring up all of the instructors right now. But as you know, times change so I'd get on with it if you're going to...