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12 Answers

Flight Instructing Career: Is it enjoyable?

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Flight Instructor

I would like to know from the "career flight instructors" how much do they enjoy what they do and would they do anything else in aviation such as flying the "big iron".  I have heard that those that instruct as a career enjoy it.  Looking for feedback.  Thank

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12 Answers



  1. Nathan Parker on Dec 05, 2011

    The only career instructors I have known are
     

    Very young, who are content to live on a low income and naive enough to expect that to change.
    Retirees
    People with spouses that provide the bulk of family income, along with health insurance.
    Part 121 instructors

     
    Any career teaching people to fly piston engine aircraft is statistically a bad one.

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  2. dimitri on Dec 05, 2011

    Nathan, it seems that you hate instructing.

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  3. Nathan Parker on Dec 05, 2011

    “Nathan, it seems that you hate instructing.”
     
    Ye gods, I love instructing.  If money were no object, I would be a career flight instructor.  But I earn 5 times what I would earn as a flight instructor doing something else and that income isn’t subject to vagaries of the weather or airline industry.
     
    The amount of income you can derive from a career is a very important criterion; if you think it’s not, you will change your mind.  I know a number of people who started out proclaiming they were career flight instructors and they all ended up flying for an airline.  With very few exceptions, you can’t achieve a desirable lifestyle by being a piston-engine flight instructor, particularly if you have to support a wife and kids.
     
    The fundamental problem, I think, is that you have too many 23-year-olds who will work for practically nothing, because they can live at home with mom and dad or eat ramen noodles until they build up their flight time.
     

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  4. Wes Beard on Dec 05, 2011

    I am not a career flight instructor but I quite enjoy teaching in the airplane.  With that said, I know of quite a few career flight instructors who have found their niche in the market.  Many of these instructors no longer teach the primary students but are the best in their area of the country in their niche.
     
    For example, some career instructors know absolutely everything there is to know about a Garmin G1000 system and can charge a premium for their knowledge and expertise.  Others are experts in a certain aircraft with manufacturer training and perform insurance approved initial and recurrent training.  Some instructors advertise a 7-10 day cross country trip around the country to build up confidence and practical experience in the airplane.  If that instructor charges $300/day (which isn’t unreasonable) one trip a month will make more than the average CFI will make in a month.  Creativity is the key and it certaintly isn’t competing with the 23 year old kid who is going to work for nothing.
     
    I have found and my friends have found that pilots who are passionate about learning and safety prefer to pay more for a better qualified instructor.  Ultimately, to make it as a career flight instructor you are going to have to perform a cost benefit analysis and differientate yourself from the beginning flight instructors.
     
    Some will see only the minimums and say the cheaper instructor will save me money.  The wiser students will see the minimums and instictively know the more expensive instructor will have the ability to finish them closer to the minimums than the less experienced pilots perhaps saving money in the long run.
     
    My advice si to read “The Savvy Flight Instructor” by Greg Brown for more creative ideas.

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  5. Abdel Shabazz on Dec 05, 2011

    You have to have strong entrepreneurial acumen to make it work. I have seen many successful career CFI’s, and many that have fallen flat on their face with it. Another thought, being a career CFI could open the doors to teaching at air carriers too, if you enjoy teaching.

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  6. Tom on Dec 05, 2011

    Full time career is tough, bad weather, palnes break, or any other reasons you might go a week without getting paid.
    I do part time instructing now, I would not be able to do it as my sole means of income. I was going down the path of airline pilot years back, i realized that I did not enjoy it. My enjoyment in avation comes with part time instructing and flying when I want.

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  7. JamesCFI on Dec 05, 2011

    You can make OK money instructing you just have to know a little marketing and be a GOOD teacher with a little salesmanship.
     
     Right not I’m loving it, I make enough to do what I need to do, I dont really cook so I have enough to go out to eat for dinner every night, I put a nice new stereo in my truck, pay all my blls no prob.
     
     Is this what I am going to do for the rest of my life, kinda, I’ll end up doing some related seasonal flying (not airline/corp crap) and in my off season do some CFIing.
     
     IM(not so)HO people that are good at making money will make enough to do what they want to do no matter the vocation.

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  8. Matthew Waugh on Dec 07, 2011

    Good round-up of comments. Unless you like Ramen noodles it’s hard to be a career instructor just working out of an FBO. You can (I assume) make more money instructing at one of the academies where (I assume) that to be a career instructor you have to be somewhere in the management chain – since I believe most basic instruction is done by time builders at the academies.
     
    As others have said, to have a fulfilling career as a flight instructor you need an entreprenurial spirit, you need to work at it, find niches and fill them, and even THEN you’re unlikey to get rich – but can probably have a lot of fun.
     
    I don’t think I’ve ever known a career flight instructor. The people who appear to be career flight instructors, they all do something else, even if it’s flying related, or they have passive forms of other income (pensions, trusts , well employed spouses etc.). That ought to tell you something.

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  9. Bill Trussell on Dec 08, 2011

    Like any other carieer, if you enjoy what you are doing, then you enjoy your career.  Confusing I know but first you have to decide what you are looking to get out of your career choice.  If you are seeking financial rewards, then be happy with the level of compensation you receive.  If you are counting on a highly paid position with flight instruction, you will be disappointed for a long time.  Very few instructors achieve a high compensation level.  That said, a few do go on to achieve very specialized and highly compensated positions.  I have made a career out of part time instruction and have been able to achieve all my goals in doing so.  I do not count on my instruction to feed my family but enjoy it very much just the same.

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  10. Micah on Dec 08, 2011

    A friend who is a Captain at Pinnacle tells me that he’s never enjoyed flying as much as when he was instructing.
     
    I teach only for fun and only part-time. I currently keep 2 students. Through a series of events I ended up trading my CFI job for a desk job that better suits my lifestyle (kids, 5 & 2) but would also like to “retire” back into instructing if that becomes a future option. 

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  11. Jack on Dec 10, 2011

    Just a quick comment.  Most places that will hire you to teach on turbine equipment want experience in that equipment.  At my Part 121 airline all instructors I know of flew one of our two equipment types, or something very similar, under Part 121 elsewhere.  Being a piston CFI is NOT a ticket getting an instructor job at a turbine operator.

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  12. Jason on Dec 12, 2011

    Just wanted to chime in that I know many career instructors at my former university as well as at my current flight school. They aren’t rich, but make an ok living and love what they do. Many of them also do contract work or pursue other interests on the side. If you stop trying as soon as you get an instructing job, then no, you’ll burn out and will make barely enough to live, but if you keep learning, specializing, looking for outside opportunities and promoting yourself then instructing is can be a fine career. Be creative. 

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