I’m almost 40 years old and have only done an intro flight +1 (in a 172). I believe CFI‘s are in fact under paid considering what you get for the money. Especially when the CFI is an altruistic knowledge and safety first teacher. I also love the channel and have learned a lot from it.
I am looking into changing careers and being a flight instructor has really appealed to me. I am currently a high school teacher and while I love teaching, I do not like many aspects of public school teaching. Plus, the thought of being able to bridge my love of teaching with my passion for aviation gets me really excited. Can I make myself more marketable to a potential employer if I make the argument that my career goal is to BE an instructor and not to cut and run when the airlines come calling? Also, is it possible to start working for a school as a CFI and then use that school and colleagues while working to gain higher certifications? I have too many questions for a comment section, but it was an amazingly informative video! Thank you!!!
I am excited you are combining your passion and career. We need more good teachers of flight. Potential employers will be excited to see a "career" flight instructor who has experience teaching. Working as a CFI while attaining more certificates is a great idea especially if you are still working another job. There is a paradigm shift when you begin making money as a flight instructor. When you start teaching you will start viewing yourself as a professional pilot and no longer a student. Another benefit for many is the discount and possible funding of additional ratings by the flight school you are working for. A bonus to your financial situation in many ways. If you want to discuss more details offline please reach out to me for a coaching session at: www.aviationcareerspodcast.com/coaching/. Thanks for the comments and please remember to take one step today towards your career goal.
Retiring from career #1 very soon, non aviation related. Going to start flight school at 50 years old. No desire to work for an airline but definitely would love a corporate job in the future. I don't need the money as I have a nice pension and retirement. Want to head to sun and fun next year as I'm in Fort Lauderdale now. Not sure where I'll end up after retirement #1. I can go anywhere a job takes me.
My flight instructor near my home was charging me $75 an hour, but he was unreliable and awful, so I had to fire him. Now I'm going to a flight school, and they said they only pay $15 an hour for their CFIs. Basically it's $1,000 to $1,050 a month! No one could live on that. It's ridiculous.
Instructor hourly rate and how much they get paid are very different. A person making $15 an hour can make more than the person making $75 and hour crazy as that sounds. It really depends on how many hours you get paid for. Normally you can expect to get paid 1,000 to 2,000 a year depending on many factors such as if you get paid for doing ground. I need to make an explainer video on this topic. Most pilots at the airlines get paid 1,000 hours a year. When I was a full time instructor I made $58,000 a year (adjusted for inflation), but I was at a great school that paid well.
@@AviationCareersPodcast Thank you very much for your reply! I don't know whether I will get extra hours for ground school. It seems like they have dedicated ground school instructors for that.
@@misfittoytower That happens often at larger schools. Briefing time is also considered ground instruction and is something I will discuss in an upcoming video.
*laughs in 2022*. no, its essentially a minimum wage job but has actual career progression, especially if you live in a big city, guess what, i stopped after my commercial license because i got accepted as an electricians apprentice. Yes im being pedantic, and i can see this guy is passionate and a fellow aviation lover ,and yes you technically CAN, but you need to live somewhere cheap, *not everyone* can get hired as a flight instructor, you work on the students schedule, and i do NOT see a super high skill cap trade job like being a pilot worth doing for minimum wage.
The Median Income in the US is around $31,000 but in some parts of the country that is a good living and in others it is not. Making a living is subjective.
Great video, Carl. I also appreciated your "action oriented" message at the end. As of July 2021, aviation definitely appears to be on an uptick, with many opportunities. I'll review your website.
No u cant make a living as a flight instructor. Ive had 2 cfi quit on me so far this year. They are leaving the school in masses. The only ones that have stayed all live in vans or rv’s. They get paid 15$ an hour to risk thier lives and cant even afford to sleep in an actual house when theyre off work. Its crazy, i feel bad for them. Once i finish commercial i will be done with flight training and probly flying in general but i started the rating so im gonna finish it
You can but it can be a challenge trying to manage both schools and students. It takes coordination and planning to work for two flight schools at one. One caution, your school may have you sign a non compete contract which will prevent you from working for more than one school.
