Primary Instructor Burn Out
 

It's tough to post this during the state the industry is in but what is out there or how do you as a CFI deal with getting burned out with teaching primary students over the same practice area and same airports. I wish it was easy as take them someplace else for me but where I work doesn't permit that.

I'm just getting burned out and bored. No cross country, no night, no instrument but the pay and QOL are through the roof.

Whats the problem?


Do you have your II/MEI? Freelance tailwheel endorsements maybe? The grass is not greener on the other side, I work for a regional and the pay and Qol are through the floor and its about as exciting as teaching primary students. I think you are winning.

Are you looking for cross country and night to build a resume to move on, or are you a lifetime CFI? If the pay is good enough, then maybe you should just fly night and cross country a little on your own.

Are there any trips you can take your students on to expand their horizons? Maybe go on an overnight and camp under the wing? Can you take them up in actual IMC to get their instrument requirement taken care of?

With such good pay and QOL sounds like this place is a keeper, even if it is routine.

Hate to break it to you but it doesn't change. You will get to the airlines and fly the same routes, to the same airports, over and over again. You will do it so often that you start memorizing all the different ops freqs at the different airports. This career is repetitiveness. When I was hauling checks I flew between the same two airports for 10 months. When I was doing 121 freight I flew the same route for almost two years. Same airports and routes, day after day after day. It really teaches you to enjoy your weekends.

You are fortunate to be doing what you are doing. Imagine yourself in a windowless cube 9-5, 5 days a week. I'll take my boring (it isn't) instructor job anytime. :)
I did the 135 gig for 3 years and don't miss it at all, and with the shape the airlines are in I'm not going to take a pay cut and be away from my family just to fly fast. IMO QOL matters most. My hats off to those that do it though. I get enough exitement giving TW endorsements in our 7ECA.:D Hang in there, this cycle will change in a few years and you'll get your opportunity. If you haven't heard it already, you have a very important job, training aviators. Give them the best you have.

By all means I understand what everyone is saying. Worked for American for almost 5 years. I know exactly how routine that can get. The world I work in is nothing but a screening process to ensure the basic stick and rudder and ability to follow procedures can be mastered to a safe level in 10 flights. Only day VFR for me at this job. I love teaching in such a short, high paced time frame. Even the ones I don't think are going to make it I give them every ounce of instructor ability I have. Most surprise you and the clue light clicks on the very last ride. That's why I never give up on them. I think from reviewing all this my best option is to get with a couple of the local flight schools and volunteer my services for IMC refreshers, BFRs, night currency, and x-c. The industry is in a hurt right now. It takes its 10-15 year cycles. I recall in the mid-80s the major competition for the big 6 was Greyhound.

Blue Skies & Tail Winds

Definately keep your options open for doing a variety of things. Maybe I was selfish, or too adventurous when I was a CFI, but I did a few extra Emergency type manuevers/short approaches, etc.. That I enjoyed doing, and I felt also increased the skill level of my students(Obviously this 10-day course thing you're talking about, might not be a really good idea).

It sounds like MusDg is doing one of those premilitary flight training gigs. Where they are looking for candidates that can learn procedures and skills in a short amount of time.

With 90% of my students being PVT students I always try and come up with new things to keep them/me sharp. One thing I like to do is make sure they get some IMC experience prior to their PVT checkride even if they have no intentions to obtain an instrument rating. When it comes to the x-c part of their training I try to go to airports that they may use for personal reasons later on. My goal as an instructor is to make them complete pilots not someone that can pass a checkride in the minimum amount of time.

I'll give that a +1. I couldn't do it in the 152's, but I would encourage those students to hop over to the 172 for an IFR flight. It worked out very well. Usually around 1.0 of actual, ceilings around 800-1000' worked great because it put us in the soup, but we could shoot the VOR-A back home with lots of room to spare. Also all I did was have them utilize their VOR tracking skills we'd shoot a VOR 31 into OZW, then get vectors for the VOR-A into Y47.

Can't help but think of all the times on this forum when pilots, who are clearly not satisfied flying airliner equipment, have posted how they'd gladly drive a Cessna around the sky...if they could just make a living doing it. Take a series of alternating days off, think creatively, then reapply yourself under a new formula. Geez, we all get bogged down in the daily grind.