Will not getting CFI hurt me in my career ?
 

Hey guys,

My goal is to the majors but I don't want to teach.

I am working on my PPL, and next I will go for instrument, I have a second job which brings in a little over 14k extra a year and its somewhat flexible. So that is what I am using to fund my instrument and ppl.

I plan to quit my jobs and get my commercial full time by taking out a loan.
I may still do my second job since it's can be flexible.

To build my hours I want to become a pipeline pilot instead of doing CFI but I am curious would it hurt my resume ?

I don't believe it would hurt your resume, but it would definitely help. Speaking from experience, becoming a CFI/CFII has made me a better pilot IMHO. Anything you can add to your resume, and 'pad' it so to speak, will make you stand out from others that are applying for the same competitive job(s). I understand that instructing isn't for everyone, as I've seen many CFIs that don't teach their students much, and just milk their students to build their hours. With that said, if you feel like you won't be a good instructor, then don't do your students a disservice by being a crappy instructor. Get your instructor rating(s) don't instruct if you don't want to, but don't let them expire until you get to the airlines,

Some have gone the 135 route and get hired on to Ravn or Sourhern Airways Express at 250hrs. You get great real world IFR experience some would say arguably is better than redundant CFI flying. Nowadays they are really pushing the 500hr requirement. Plus with the current industry climate, I am not exactly sure how it will affect hiring this year.

Since you are still working at PPL, getting CFI will only help. Keeping an open mind will help even more further down the road. Instructing allows you to understand and become a better pilot and I would embrace every opportunity to do so.

Instructing would and SHOULD enhance your resume, but it’s also one of the most commonly failed ratings. Don’t get it if you are not actually going to use it because a training failure will do you more harm than an unnecessary and unused rating will do you good. Same thing for seaplane ratings and other interesting and even fun similar stuff.

Once you have a seniority number where you want to be you can get your gyrocopter rating, lighter-than-air rating, powered parachute rating, and hot air ballon instructor certificate. Don’t dig yourself a two or three year hole by failing at something you don’t need.

What he said. If you don’t ever plan on instructing, probably skip the ratings. But, I learned more after I got my CFI/II/MEI ratings than I did before. As long as you take it seriously, you'll learn a ton while you’re teaching.

I can always tell if my other pilot was a CFI prior to coming to the airlines. 9/10 times they are a better pilot and are great at explaining answers to questions I might have. Point is the rating allows you to teach but also teaches you great decision making and social skills you'll carry on throughout your career.

CFI/Instructors traditionally make better Captains due to their experience teaching/mentoring and the Majors know this. Part 135/91 flying may make you better in the right seat for the first few months of your Regional career, but after that you cannot tell the difference between a pilot who came through as a CFI, Part 135 or both route. You do get some extra points on your application if you have CFI/MEI/CFII, and ground instructor experience.

With that said, if you have no desire to teach, or are afraid to do it because it take a lot of hard work to become a CFI, then don't try for it. As the person said above, you don't want a failure on your record if you can avoid it.

One of my DPE’s has a friend that is a chief pilot at American and they give preference to pilots that instructed over pilots that did not instruct. Flying with pilots that did not instruct vs instructing is like night and day. Just my experience and what I have heard. If you don’t want to instruct though, that’s ok. Plenty of routes to get to the majors.

The argument that you shouldn't get your CFI ratings because of the high failure rate is a weak one.

By the time you get to the airlines. you'll have instructed for at least a couple of years. By then you've hopefully signed off quite a few students and hopefully have a high student pass rate.

The airlines understand that the initial CFI ratings have the highest failure rates so they won't hold that against applicants. Again, if you can explain why you busted the ride, and what you learned from the experience, along with your student pass rate, you should be ok.

Instructing is an invaluable experience, you'll learn so much from it. Making you a more well-rounded pilot, especially the CFII.

Once everything starts to open up again and student loads increase, instructing will be one of the few ways to build hours. Other options such as pipeline patrol and aerial survey may mean relocating to undesirable locations.

Like the above alluded to if you get your CFI definitely go for your CFII. Being able to instruct instrument kept my IFR skills sharp for the year I instructed. It was actually a pretty easy rating to get, especially if you were smart and took your Instrument instructor written the same time you took your instrument written. It pulls from the same question bank except there are a few extra questions on the instructor side.