I'm a CFI on chicago's northside and things here are alright. I got hired at the begining of the slow winter season and I still manage to keep busy as a part timer for now and moving up to full time soon. We will be hurting for instructors soon and all the other schools on the field have instructors wanted signs up all the time so demand here is real high. The guys who have been here since last summer tell me we'll all be working 12 hour days 7 days a week and flying as much as possible come spring.

I do not think that becoming a CFI was a mistake at all. I could very easliy take out another loan or something to that effect and go to atp but I think that I am learning so much right now about everything that it would be silly for me to go anywhere right now. Being a CFI provides learning experiences almost daily. From interpersonal, (who has ever worked with the guy everyone else passes on?) to PIC attitude, (next time please dont pull the mixture on final) to IFR regulations and everything else.

I guess if you have the money to spend go ahead and take the short cut most people would but I feel like this is the place and route that works best for me. Not to mention that I have already paid enough for my training, why should I have to pay to learn how to fly a CRJ just to get an interview?

I second that as well. If we made more maybe people wouldn't be so quick to leave for mesa!

 

I am not drinking the ATP koolaid, but I went there as a student, and then instructed there for about 17 months. I don't agree with the transition program, I think that is buying your way into a job. But it was a great place to work and build multi time as an instructor. It was fun going where you wanted to go and fly when you wanted to fly. Anyway I recommend to all pilots out there to become a CFI, it makes you a better pilot in the long run. I had some guys in my new hire class months back who had never instructed, and they were lacking basic fundementals that all pilots should have at the current level. They all made it through training though. These guys had always been students, and they will continue to be students for months to come. Not that I am still not learning how to fly the CRJ, but I feel that me and my fellow instructors who were in my new hire class were above the learning curve of those who weren't instructors, and the transition to 121 pilot was easier on us.

 

You have got a lot to learn. Pay to get a job. How stupid is that?
Go to college, get a degree, get paid to instruct, and then go to pretty much any job you want. There are many ways to make good money as a CFI. You are not seeing the whole picture.
Or, just pay your way into a regional job at ATP and be stuck there at that level the rest of your life while the rest of us move up into higher careers.

 

Sort of of topic, but - has anyone been successful being a cfi part time?

 

Yes, I instruct part time. I am in my last semester at college. I go to school Monday - Thursday, and freelance instruct at my local airport on the weekends. I have clients that have their own aircraft, and others that rent an airplane from the airport. I make more money than a CFI at a flight school because I charge my own fee and keep every bit of it. You can freelance and be successful if you know how to market yourself. In addition, you will be building your flight time and gaining invaluable experience that you cannot get anywhere else but by instructing.

 

Thanks for calling me a looser! What about the students who can't afford to buy there airline job and choose to flight instruct instead? I will let them know YOU will be paying the bill for them to get there job. Whats your address?

 

How much time did you build in those 17 months? Reason I ask - its possible to attend ATP and then CFI there to get the experience / value of being a CFI before moving to the regionals.

Was your time as a CFI there a waste?

-LAFF

 

I am working as a CFI for an academy in CA. They are hiring as many as they can and their pay is one of the best I've seen for CFIs. My friend is also working in Vegas and I know in October they were looking to hire 5-6 in the next month. My friend also got a job offer in Billings. Jobs are out there if you are willing to look and relocate, just gotta be willing to ask about wages and number of students.

 

Once again, be aware that SkyHigh is NOT EVEN IN OUR INDUSTRY currently. Yet he claims to know more than anyone else on any area (at least it sure seems that way). He even knows whether or not you are happy at your current job, or are just lying about it! His $.02 are worth about half that.

 

What do you use for a syllabus? Do you have your students phase check with more experienced instructors?