CFI Pay

D

DAnbert

Well-Known Member
Please move this to the appropriate forum.

A lot of schools tout that you can come to work for them as a CFI to build hours. Well I would like to see how much each of these places pay. Please let us know what the schools offer for pay to CFI.

Thank you
 
$15/hour flight. $0 for ground. I can usually get around 15 hours a week. However, I'm always at the school for at least 8 hours a day. I was getting 25 hours a week at one point and that was from being at the school for 11-15 hours a day. I'm usually taking home between $800-$1000 a month. Rent is $475 a month so as you can see, I'm not making very much. Don't expect to be able to pay any of your loans (or credit cards) while you're a flight instructor.

I know there are a lot of places that pay more than this, but most of those instructors don't have the 400 hours of multi-time that I have. I don't say this to seem arrogant, it's just the trade off I made.
 
When I worked at Pan Am I made a salary of $30K per year plus vacation, health insurance, dental and 401K. That was special because I taught in the Korean program, flying 6-8 hours a day 0800-1700 M-F. The only night flying we did was for the rating the student was getting, and no weekend flying. Regular instructors made $14 per flight hour to start, that's it.

I heard of another school near Napa, CA. that paid instructors $45K per year to start working similar hours flying Barons and Bonanza's teaching Japanese. Cant remember the name of it now though.
 
$0 for ground????????? This is about the most outrageous thing I think I've heard! That's ridiculous! It takes a LOT of work and money to get even a Private Certificate. Now pile on an Instrument, Commercial, and CFI (as pretty much the bare minimum to teach) and you're talking a CONSIDERABLE amount of work and money. We're talking tens of thousands of dollars, literally. And who could count the time spent studying. It is absolutely proposterous for an instructor to provide a service (ground instruction or flight instruction) and not be paid for it. I absolutely cannot believe this! Any school that practices this is basically saying that ground instruction is just not important. I mean, if I didn't have a keyboard at my fingertips I'd be speechless!

As a general rule I usually spend about an hour of ground for each flight (not taking into consideration lessons that do not include an associated flight.) The breakdown usually consists of (rough estimates... it varies for each lesson) about 30-45 minutes of briefing first (to go over, in detail, what will be worked on during the flight, as well as for either of us to ask/answer any questions about the related material/flight). Then we fly. Then after we land, grab a drink and a pee, and try to dry some of the sweat up we debrief for usually 15-30 minutes (where we share evaluations/suggestions, ask/answer questions, and I assign study material for the next lesson.)

It is operations like the afore-mentioned that produce students/renters who act like you're doing them an injustice by charging them for ground. That's a great way to offer inadequate instruction. I personally would not want to provide a service that I worked extremely hard to be able to offer, and not be compensated for it.

Sorry for the strong words, but things like this have a very negative impact on the industry. How often do you find a College Professor that is only being paid for Lab lessons and not lectures. Just try to put it into perspective.

Happy flying all!
 
Where I used to work (a few months ago) you started out at $15. Within 8 months I was at $20 and if I taught in the Cirrus it was $28. Both for ground and flight time - it doesn't matter which.
 
Wow those rates are low compared to this area. I'd say the going rate around here is in the 30-45 dollar range. Also there is a local flight school that has Cirrus specialized training and I believe the instructors for that get 70/hr. But then again they had to pay lots of money to cirrus to get their cirrus-specific training.
 
I have been told that Falcon starts pay at 12, and it gradually moves up to 22 depending on a number of circumstances. I believe that pay is for flight and ground, but then again, I haven't asked.

It is one of the questions I'll be asking in 3 weeks when I visit them.
 
greaper007 said:
I know there are a lot of places that pay more than this, but most of those instructors don't have the 400 hours of multi-time that I have. I don't say this to seem arrogant, it's just the trade off I made.
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Sweet, 400 hours of multi time. Too bad that can't put a roof over your head, money in the bank, or food on the table.


People won't treat instructors like professions until they start acting like them. When a plumber comes to your house, they bill you for all of their time, not just the time they spent putting draino down your sink. Why someone would work a "full time" job and take home <$800/month just makes me cry. This wasn't directed at you; there are a lot of places out there that are like this. I was one of those CFI's until I smartened up and quit after 4 months. But even then I was taking home $1600+/month after tax. Not that that is much better :D!
 
:yeahthat:

Greaper, you are selling yourself short and the rest of the CFIs out there as well. You should charge for ground because you are a professional (I hope so) and that is that.

Please don't volunteer what the rest of the CFIs out there make a living off of. To me, this is similar to PFT/PFJ just to get ahead. I am not trying to attack you on a personal level, but respectfully ask you to see the bigger picture and maybe talk to your employer about paying you for your time. As they should.
 
As for the original post:

CFIs at my old flight school started at $18 and top out at $24. Work as many hours as they want (can be 100/mo) and get paid for flight/ground time. Check airman got a $10/hr override so you could be making $34/hr when doing Stage Checks.

Basically unlimited vacation (manage your own schedule), health benefits and some other perks along the way.

Not a bad gig at all :)
 
When I freelanced, I charged $25 an hour flight and ground. Otherwise, I was making $22 flight and ground.
 
At my old school we made $18. I worked anywhere between 120-140 hours flight per month and then the associated ground.
Take home around 2400-2800 per month before taxes. Hell of alot more then I'm making now.
 
I don't disagree with you guys. It's just the way things are set up here, I have my multi-time now and I'm really considering getting out to somewhere else. The program I'm in is a little different then most FBO's. I was a student here and now I'm an instructor here. I didn't get charged for ground, and It doesn't seem like I should charge for it with that in mind. It keeps the cost of the program down, and you can get out in less than a year.

I'd love to charge for ground, but I'd get fired. I don't like the situation but it's my choice, and I like the multi-time. Now that I have about 400 hours of multi I'm definitly thinking about getting out. That and I just got engaged, and my fiance lives in Ct.
 
We all know that most CFIs are way underpaid, unless you work at IFTA, IASCO, etc. From what I've been reading, it can range from as low as $9/hr up to $30+/hr. I think a lot of it depends on the area where you're instructing. Most CFIs in SoCal make aorund $20+/hr, but you've also got to consider the cost of living down there. I'm making $16/hr for flight/ground instruction, $24/hr for 40+/wk. and $8/hr for meetings, student paperwork, supervising solos, etc. I don't think it's right not charging for ground instruction, you're still providing a service and donating your time.

If you are a CFI and you haven't read "The Saavy Flight Instructor" by Greg Brown, read it!! Excellent book!
 
greaper007 said:
Now that I have about 400 hours of multi I'm definitly thinking about getting out. That and I just got engaged, and my fiance lives in Ct.
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By all means, get out.

Why torture yourself with a poor lifestyle in BFE, FL (or is that Ft Pierce??) when you have a significant other in a much nicer place? Based on the job searches I've been doing lately, I doubt you'll have trouble finding a decent gig in CT, especially if you already have some dual given.
 
$17/hour for flight and ground instruction. Starts to go up at the 40 hours/month mark. Also, base salary for full time instructors to carry them through lean months; not much, but it will cover your rent and food. Monthly incentives, such as filling out all your paper work correctly, enrolling a new student.
 
UND_Flyer said:
I don't think it's right not charging for ground instruction, you're still providing a service and donating your time.

If you are a CFI and you haven't read "The Saavy Flight Instructor" by Greg Brown, read it!! Excellent book!
Click to expand...

I agree. When I have a student question it, I tell them we can do it one of two ways:
1. I charge them $150/hour in the airplane for ground instruction.
2. I charge them $35/hour in the class room for ground instruction.
It's their call.
 
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