Trying to avoid being CFI, Options?
 

So about 20 hours into my training, I know a while to go! But given my financial and worldly circumstances I never thought it would be possible yet here I am! If everything goes to schedule I should have my commercial multi by November. Anyways it seems like most new pilots are destined to be CFIs to built time but I don’t want to do that. I would like to save that money and also, being a CFI is something that you need to be passionate about and while I’m passionate about flying I’m not as passionate about teaching. Is it possible to get hired by a 135 right out of flight school? I live in South Florida and wouldn’t mind flying caravans around the bahamas :) What are my other options/road to be able to get to 135 ASAP.

Uh...no
135 minimums VFR is 500 hrs
135 minimums IFR is 1200 hrs

That sounds like for PIC though I’m talking SIC? I feel like with the Professional Development Program some would higher low time SICs??

Realistically speaking, there are about to be thousands of pilots out of work in the near future. I would not expect to get a non CFI gig (if you could even get one of those) with only a few hundred hours. People are going to be fighting tooth and nail for any flying job they can get for the next couple of years until the airlines start hiring again. Even the Bahamas 135 companies won’t be seeing their PICs leaving, thus they won’t be in need of an SIC development program. Not to be a Debbie downer, but right now you will not be seen as competitive. My advice would be to look into the military. Uncle Sugar still pays people good money to fly. Don’t give up though! There will be another boom, and another bust, and another boom....

Anyways it seems like most new pilots are destined to be CFIs to built time but I don’t want to do that.

welcome to aviation?

I would like to save that money and also, being a CFI is something that you need to be passionate about

There are bad CFI's out there. This can not be eliminated.

It’s very unfortunate what has happened, we went from one of the best times to be a pilot to one of the worst, nearly over night. I respect that you don’t want to teach and don’t have a passion for it, a great disservice can be done when that happens. That being said, your options prior to the downturn for someone with a fresh commercial were very limited. It’s not the “just have a pulse and will hire you” mentality that the flights school’s marketing team has preached for years. As mentioned, there are literally thousands of pilots with tens of thousands of hours in jets, several type ratings, and 5-20 years more aviation experience than you will have, suddenly out of work also competing for jobs. Not only that, but now those who did get their CFI,CFII, and MEI are out of work or underemployed and considering other alternatives. Climbto350 is an aviation job site, as well as dozens of Facebook groups are posting what limited jobs are out there. If you want a shot at a low time job, you *may be able to get on at Boutique. Very few people know that if you work for them as a Customer service agent or some other capacity for at least 6 months, they will hire you with low time. This may require moving to one of the bases. Best case scenario in this job market is that you move to a major hub, or tiny city that nobody else wants to live, or fly survey without going home for months on end. Do what you can to pad the resume with school and/or volunteer work. In the mean time a job or second job to reduce debt in the event the flying job eludes you as it will many others for at least some time. I really wish you the best of luck, nobody could have seen this coming.

Get your CFI certs and then do aerial survey

😶😶😶😆😆😆😆
😆😆😆

I was kind of in your shoes the last recession, low time with no CFI. Like you for some reason I didn’t really have a passion for it. But I think back then you only needed commercial certificate to find a job so it was easier to think about not being a CFI. I got on with a EAS op with 200 hours, I barely had enough time in the log book to get a commercial license that’s how quick you got picked up back then because of the shortage. Flew for them for a few months and got hired by a regional at like 600 hours, I was then promptly furloughed. Long story short I could not find a flying job those 2 years I was furloughed. The only job I might have been able to get was being a CFI but since I already had a RJ job waiting for me I saw no point in building more time in the pattern on a 172. There really was no hope the last time for any job, but even when pro companies aren’t hiring there’s always a new person trying to learn how to fly. Maybe this time things will be different as the economy was pulled out from under us rather than us having to do with it.

Also another thing, for those desperate for a job this might not matter but consider that if you go the route I did of looking for a hole in the wall non cfi commercial job be prepared to move around the country to random places because that’s where these ops are based often times, places you don’t want to be or can’t afford. If you have any attachments it’s easier just to be a CFI at your local airport. Flying a caravan in the middle of nowhere making little money might not be as nice as flying around your local pattern and coming home every night. Looking back I should have just done the CFI at the home airport, still there’s no right or wrong way of earning experience. Just stuff to think about.

As others have said, even before these last two months where everything has ground to a halt, various SIC positions that were advertising a minimum of 500 hours, you needed between 500-1000 hours to be competitive. When I was going through primary training as you are now, I thought about the same things. I wanted to get to work as soon as I could, and wasn't sure teaching was for me. However, after I got my commercial certificate, I got my CFI and CFII right afterwards in case I couldn't find a job to go straight to work. I ended up working as a CFI for about a year and it was a great experience. You learn a ton, you fly a ton, it will make you into a better pilot as you try and prevent your students from killing themselves and you in the process, and it won't take long to get your hours if you are motivated. I got hired by a 135 company after a year of being a CFI. Obviously recent events have changed the landscape quite a bit, and things are rapidly changing at the moment, but you have some time to continue to train and think about what you might want to do. Don't discount getting your instructor certificates. You can find ways around it, but they are always valuable to have and certainly can't hurt on your resume. Good luck!