N0315

I am going to AF at the beginning of October to get my CFI/I and AGI and IGI licenses. As a new CFI, how much can I honestly expect to make? I will be moving with the g/f, and she'll also be needing a job. Basically, we'd like to take home around $2200 a month, combined. Can I hope to take home around $900 a month as a CFI? Moving is no problem, and anywhere in the US is possible. Any places I should start looking? Thanks for your input.

rickB

you can definitely make that much somewhere... check out IFTA in bakersfield if you want to make some bank ... a lot of foreign schools are blowing up right now and pay well, i think you would probably make more money working at a flight academy or 141 school as opposed to an fbo

usmc-sgt

I worked at a great school and was paid $24/hr (may have been 25 or 26, cant remember) and I was busy all day every day. I averaged 140 hours billed per month so thats $3360.00 average per month. Even if it was 100 hours per month (billed) thats still 2400.00 per month.

The school where I hangar my plane teaches in J3 cubs and I believe their guys are getting $30.00/hr but of course the tradeoff is that over the course of the year they are probably averaging 60 hours per month.

Pick the right school and youll be fine. Its your first airline job you need to worry about. I take home around $2100.00 or so now

BoredwLife

I suggest that you take a look at Pan Am Flight academy down in Phoenix Arizona. I have a couple of friends there that make around 40-50k a year. And they seem to enjoy the job.

N0315

thanks guys. I'll be looking into those. I am going from third shift welder to a first flying job here in a month or so, so it worries me. Any more places you guys might know of, please do tell. I would like to fly A LOT as well. Thanks.

Mason32

Many of the Aviation Colleges were/are having trouble keeping CFI's because the airlines started hiring anybody with a fresh ink multi-commerical-instrument. The result is many Universities have significantly upgraded the pay and compensation for instructors. Daniel Webster in NH now has very good pay and benefits for their instructors and even a yearly bonus you can get just by maintaining your Master CFI credentials with NAFI. You can get extra bonus money for the NAFI certification and for NAFI aerobatic cartification... extra money each year... about an extra 7,000 for keeping all three.... on top of an above average salary, good benefits, and great equipment.

Ewfflyer

Don't forget cost of living, obviously anything in CA is going to cost you probably another 10-20% more than say anything off the coasts(goes for northeast area's also). I would think that a lot of these CFI positions are getting filled fast, with the pending furloughs coming this month and october, I'd definately get a job and secure ASAP. Lots of low-time guys coming soon.

When I was a full-time CFI at a small FBO(2 152's, 2 172's), I was making $20/hr, $22/hr commercial/instrument. The tradeoff is it was just local folks, not a college/pilot-mill place. I did 800hrs of dual that first year, and 1000 by the time I left, so not bad. This was while gas was still around $2/gal and I shared an apartment with another co-worker. So I could live on appx $17-18k/yr in the outskirts of the Metro-Detroit area(Y47 was the airport)

Pilotpip

I was making $18/hr at my first CFI gig. I thought it was great, until I realized that because of weather/aircraft availability/no students I was only billing about 10 hours a week. This was in the midwest. Second job was better, not because of the billed hours, but because it was a salaried position.

If you're looking to make a living instructing it might be in your best intrest to find somewhere with a ton of VFR days. Think Florida, Arizona, Texas. Only downfall is that the cost of living may be much higher than somewhere like the midwest.

N0315

Oakland Southwest! Been there many times.

If I had MY way about it, I'd move to FL. I don't really want to be a CFI for really long term, just looking to make a decent living, build hours, and learn some new things. I'd like to go to cargo afterwords to be honest. Unfortunately, I've got college debt that I'd like to pay off ASAP. Like to pay about $550 a month on it, that would add a couple hundred bucks a month off of it. Could live on around 1700 a month take home for the both of us IF necessary.

P-51D

Florida=thunderstorms in the afternoon
Arizona=too hot
Midwest=horrible falls and winter

BUT overall, you can make good money anywhere...BUT go where you are going to have a good quality of life.