Flight Instructor as a Career?
 

Hello,

I am currently in my final training for my Commercial and CFI and had a few questions.

I understand how cyclical the airline industry can be for pilots, or more so...pilots with low seniority. I also understand that cargo tends to be a little more steady with regard to the ups and downs the airlines go through, but have heard that those are well sought after jobs. What I was wondering, since I do like to help people learn, is whether or not there is truly a decent living to be made in the flight instructing world? Obviously flight instructing will have its ups and downs as well depending on the economy, but for a low time pilot and one that isn't necessarily striving to fly the big iron right away...is there any way to make a good living as a career flight instructor?

In my few years of flight training and flying, I have really only come across much younger flight instructors that simply say the pay sucks. If one was to choose to take the route of a career flight instructor, is the chief flight instructor really the only one that makes a decent living within a flight school? I can't seem to really get a straight answer to this.

Thank you for your responses.

I think you could do okay as a professional CFI, either at a select few schools or as a free lancer in the right place. The problem is that very few could avoid CFI burnout for a whole career. I know I couldn't.

Another option that would pay about the same over the life of a career would be 135 freight. A guy could work into a pretty good deal if he had the seniority and was happy with the base and hours. You won't get rich, but you could have a good QOL while working way less than a CFI.

I have some friends (former students) who teach full-time...they got into at the right time when pilot demand ramped up and have been able to make regional CA money. They go home every night, but they also go to work almost every day of the week, and often work long days.

The best income potential is in specialization...low-time CFIs can't get insured or don't have aircraft-specific skills for certain high-end aircraft or avionics. MEI, TAA, etc.

Eventually you can become a DPE...good money there, but also long hours.

CFI work is a lot of fun, but it requires a high level of energy and burnout would likely be a problem. A school chief pilot job is the way I would go in the long term...you get to hang out at the airport and talk to pilots, and can usually fly more or less, whatever suits you.

I loved being a CFI, even when I finished. I just got burnt out from doing it. With being at the airlines, the QOL and pay is much less, but it is something I always look forward to!

Ive seen a couple of job listing for CFIs 52k-60k a year. Most are in California, Texas, Florida...

-my instructor (27yr-around 3500hr given) is in the mid 40k range, and he ferries airplanes on the side across the country. About to settle down, says good QOL, but hes looking into Asia.

I flight instructed for 7 years and as far as a career goes there are ways to go about it. But it is not going to be a lucrative job by any means.

Yes there are higher paying jobs in CA with usually plenty of students but the cost of living is very high, and sometimes the higher pay cancels out.

I started out as a part-time CFI working another job to pay the bills until I got the CFII and MEI so that my pay scale was high enough to have a go at it full time. After 2 years of mediocre pay, I was promoted to management where there was still flying to be done but a lot of other duties, that in all honesty helped me stay sane (in other words I didn't have to fly 8 hours a day to make a living). All the other guys posting here are right, it requires a huge amount of energy and you will get burnt out on it after a while.

So yes there is money to be made in management, chief instructor, etc, but those are very hard to come by sometimes. Irregardless it was nice in management getting a salary to live on until I decided to move on to corporate (this takes a long time of instruction to get to this level w/o previous jet time).

Good luck!

So it seems that there are opportunities out there to make a decent living at flight instructing full time, but the drawbacks are long hours and possible, if not certain, burnout. I have done most of my training at a 141 school that has a pilot training side and a corporate side. A few of my instructors from the past have been pulled from the training side to go to the companies corporate side. Obviously the coolness factor for most of these guys to be in their early 20's and flying right seat on a Hawker 800 has to be up there. Most that I have spoken to have said that their pay has decreased for about the first 6 to 12 months transitioning to the corporate side.

I guess my main concern is that I am now 36 years old and am just jumping into my passion of flying at this seemingly late stage. The thought of burnout seems inevitable as a flight instructor, but the personal rewards seem to be greater than flying some of the other avenues of the industry.

It seems as flexibility is the key when getting into the aviation industry.

One other question that I have is when transitioning to a new company, for example...if I were flight instructing (and I know this is truly optimistic, but for the sake of conversation) and making $55k, do you have any bargaining with companies as the airlines, or cargo to start out at that pay? Or do you basically fall back into freshman status and at the low end of the wage tree when hiring onto the regionals, cargo companies, etc.?

Thank you in advance for your advice.

$55K salary is easily achievable for a CFI with some experience (1-2 years). You can potentially make more as a freelancer in the right location, if you specialize on the right things.

I order to sign off initial CFI applicants, or work as a 141 chief pilot, you need the two years plus a certain amount of experience. CP and senior instructors usually get paid more because with that experience level they have other employment options.

If you go to work for any flight operation with enough pilots to have a formal seniority-based system, you will start at the published entry-level pay scale...period. There's no other fair way to do it. In some cases you can REQUEST assignment to a specific aircraft type...the company can decide which class date you start in, which may determine aircraft and domicile.

If you get a job at smaller 135 or corporate operation they will often negotiate...but for any turbine job your CFI experience is the lowest, entry-level, qualification. Even being a chief pilot means little. Some guys don't get this, they progress through the instructor ranks and get a big head about it, only to find out that in the turbine world they are still just a CFI...with a lot to learn. The guys who can negotiate higher salaries will have previous turbine time.

"do you have any bargaining with companies as the airlines, or cargo to start out at that pay?"

I'd say no. Every time you move, you start at the bottom. That's just how it is. If the bottom is 55K, then you'd be set. Not too many jobs you could go to with CFI time will offer 55K, I'd say.

Thank you everyone for your responses and advice. I am truly as confused as when I started, LOL. Just kidding.

It seems that like any other job, you have to apply yourself to make a good go of it. I understand that and have no issues with that.

I guess your responses lead me to another aspect to ask since I haven't been working in the aviation industry.

Obviously building time and getting multiple ratings, along with learning the nuances of aviation is a good thing that can be attributed to instructing; what I was wondering is if most of you acquired your current jobs through either people you met while instructing, or through networking while instructing? Is it the practice of pumping out resumes and time/rating information to different aviation employers in hopes you get return calls? Did most of you walk your resumes in to meet face to face the first time? I have heard that this industry is a huge "who you know" industry. Have any of you worked with a mentor as you have built time? Is there any benefit to working with a mentor in the airline industry?

Again, thanks for your advice.

Also, thank you for the link to the story of your career progression...very interesting read that brings up another question.

For someone such as myself getting ready to finish up my commercial, which is more valuable right out of the box, a commercial multi or the CFI?