pagey

Have you worked at both places?

philiplane

I have not worked at either place. I know the DOM at FIT and he runs a tight ship.

I have been to both places for business, and for tours. Standing on the ramps, looking at the planes and the shops, you can see the difference in the level of care.

FIT looks like a new car dealer, FSA looks like the buy-here pay-here used car dealer of last resort.

Ash Williams

I've worked at 3 different flight schools as an instructor: Flight Safety Academy, Aerosim Flight Academy, and a smaller FBO-type school.

I've also worked as an A&P with a variety of experience: GA, corporate, airlines, and the space shuttle.

IMHO- Flight Safety Academy in Vero is a good operation. And anybody that wants to talk about the level of care? Especially the maintenance? Pffffft! Must have been looking at something from far away. The planes are older but that doesn't mean they aren't well kept. When I was there, they were in better shape than most of the "newer" equipment I've flown. The maintenance is excellent. In fact- award winning. Some of the best I've seen. I'm sure FIT is fine too. I'm just saying, you can't go wrong in Vero Beach either. Look at both of them- do what works for you.

I'll second what somebody else said about FSA standz--> it's not that bad. I was a brand new instructor when I did it. I was far from being a rock-star and I passed. Study, prepare, and do what AH says.

pagey

Eh, you are completely wrong IMO. Yes the planes are old, but the maintenance is top notch....top. I would eat an egg off the floor of the maint hanger at FSA. The guy that runs the dept has been working on warriors arrows and seminoles since something like 1978. All at FSA. He is very sharp.

Now I'm not saying that FIT is not a good operation because I honestly do not know but to say FIT runs a better op than FSA while not working at either is a bit disingenuous. Even if you do know the director of maint at FIT.

FWIW FSA has been in operation since like the 50s.....they have their s@#$ together for sure.

dl773

You wouldn't believe how old the buildings at FSA are. But you certainly cannot tell just by looking because the upkeep is top notch.

They are certainly not flashy, though.

rjm1489

Just wondering if anyone can shed some light on the CFI pay at FSA. I just applied last week and am trying to find out. Thanks!

dl773

I think the pay starts at $16 or $16.50 an hour. I don't think it goes up that much, either.

What helps is the low cost of living in Vero and the benefits are supposed to be really good. And you can expect to max your hours every week. If you plan it well, you can max it in a little as 4 days. I know some instructors schedule their students back to back to minimize down time and achieve this.

FSA's policy requires one day off per week minimum and maximum 12 hour days.

PilotP

Graduated from flight safety...great program overall and a good work environment. They are in dire need of instructors right now, as far as FIT goes I know a few instructors leaving there and going to flight safety. My opinion you have more stability at flight safety because even if they don't have a huge class of "local" pilots. They make up for them in their international programs. Irish/Greek/Saudis etc. hope this helps a little

pagey

You can make a little more if you come in with some experience and are able to qualify for a European program. I forget the exact numbers but its something like 500 hours total with 250 dual given and 100 or maybe 200 instrument.

The pay might be different now since I've been gone for years but when I was there $18/hr or more depending on which program you got in to.

Also you'll have to do more standardization on top of whatever standz you have to do for the 141 side(initial, instrument, multi).

blaine

???... Flight Safety is the Ivy League of flight training. I'm an alumni and I can tell you from experiencing other places, it's hard to beat the professionalism and academics FSI provides. Having FSI on your resume is a sure fire way to get a recruiter calling you for an interview.