Private pilots
In the past it was possible for the middle class to afford to fly for fun. Today whenever someone considers flying as a hobby they quickly come to the conclusion that they can only afford to do it as a professional.
Pilot mills across the country are more than willing to feed the myth and provide expensive training to legions of pilots who then quickly realize that they can not afford to work as a pilot either and quit flying altogether.
The results are that the active hobby pilot is disappearing. Flight instructors need a robust hobby group to provide training as safety pilots, provide BFR's and the like. Now that hobby pilots are fading away so goes the CFI market. Most new CFI's never see their first job.
In addition in the past once a pilot made it to a regional or major they eagerly let their CFI lapse into history. Why would you need that thing again once you have made it to the big time? Today no one feels all that secure in the profession anymore. Pilots tend to hold on the the CFI.
The results are a growing pile of CFI's without students. The hobby market is in free fall. Additional evidence lies in the plummeting price of older used planes. Once the bombers begin to drop out I expect that a Cessna 150 will be worth its weight in scrap aluminium.
I would advise against getting the CFI and spend the money buying the time elsewhere.
Skyhigh