US Aviation Academy - Denton, TX
 

What's the quality of life working as an instructor? Is it a good place to work for? What are the opportunities? What is the pay starting at?

There was a lot of foreign instruction there back in 2007 I don't know about now. Different equipment types to choose from for students. Back then it had its admin issues and instructors that just came in logged time and went home regardless of quality of instruction.

I would definitely suggest you visit the place first and get a feel for it. I think there has been a change in management since. DTO is a nice busy field.

Two of my friends used to work there. They made decent money but expect to work ALOT! They were logging about 100 hours a month on average. There are still alot of foreign students at the school. The school just built a brand new building there and its really nice. This info is really current I instruct right down the road.

Current Info
 

I'm a line guy at US. We have 60 aircraft give or take depending on the time of year. Yes instructors are really busy and you will fly a lot. Chinese contract students mostly.

Fleet is made up of Diamond DA20's and 40's and C-172's and C-150/152's. There are also 4 Seneca's.

We also have 4 King Air's that cycle in and out as three are leased. Our King Air pilots are really high time guys so don't expect to get a gig doing that until you spend some time here.

I just flew today with a guy who has been here 4 years. When he started he had barely 400 hours TT. Now he has 3500 TT and 2000 are Turbine PIC in the King Air. I'm not promising that will happen to you but it's not too far fetched if you hang around awhile. Most instructors come in, get their regional mins as soon as they can and are off to the airlines.

Good Luck.

I was in ground school with a guy who worked there, said that he didn't have PIC authority to cancel a flight based on weather. Had to go to a senior instructor who basically ****ed and moaned they wouldn't get paid for it.

Second hand story, your mileage may vary, no warranty expressed or implied.

I work there and have been for two years. The place has had its reputation of being a dump for a long time but my own time has been ok. There have been a lot of changes to the management philosophy over the two years and a lot of things have dramatically improved. We are really hurting for instructors right as the hiring pool has severely diminished in quantity as well as quality. You will work your ass off, you will fly a lot, and you will build a lot of time. Our Chinese contracts are booming right now and we are pretty much in a crunch times.

The whole canceling flights thing is not true. They just want to keep a record of what's going on with students so they can report back to their company. You will never EVER be forced to fly... Ever.

Instructors can average between 80-120 hrs a month depending on your ability. We take guys with experience and start them at higher level of pay and we also take low time guys at teir 1.

I've been there since Aug. 2010 and started with 250 hrs and a CFI. This month I'll be at 2000 T, 400+ turbine pic, 800+ multi, 200 hrs instrument etc...

I've had many opportunities to leave but I have been lucky to get great opportunities here and I wouldn't change anything about my decisions.

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PM me if you have any questions

Well they are certainly looking for instructors and I am sure if you asked they could hook you up with contact info of a couple of current employees.

Hi
I am interest in your flight school, but i do not want to apply CFI job. I would like to learn fly in your school. Because I am not in US, I have no chance to take a look about the school.:( Could you please tell me the school is a good place to learn fly from PPL to CPL?

Any active CFI at USAA
 

Anyone currently work at USAA? I have a few questions about the operation.