interview flight expenses

aviategw

aviategw

Well-Known Member
guys/gals:

I flew with a school that I'd like to work for last weekend. The flight went okay, not great, not terrible.

The thing that makes me uncomfortable is that I had to pay for the interview flight. I paid for 1.7 hours of C172 rental, 1.7 hours of the chief pilot's time, and a fuel surcharge for 1.7 hours worth of fuel used. Is this a normal practice? Did y'all have to pay for your flight time during your interviews for CFII jobs?

I really liked the chief pilot, and we seemed to hit it off, is this something that I should just quietly bitch about at jetcareers.com?
 
I've never had to pay for an interview flight or a check out flight in an airplane for any school I've worked for... smells kinda fishy...
 
Alot more flight schools are getting crooked.

At my flight school, I'm a "contractor". I DID NOT have to fly as a part of my evaluation. That being said, it was a thorough interview.

After that, my initial AC checkout was free. I chose to do that in the most expensive aircraft.

After that, I had to pay for all of my checkouts (an hour in the DA20 and .4 in the C152).

In exchange, I'm not an employee, I refuse to empty out the trash and I get better pay than alot of my friends at other flight schools!

I'll take that....
 
Within the last year I've checked out three CFI's in my 152. None stuck around long enough to do much....but that's okay. It's a point of professionalism to not charge when you are checking someone out in a plane that will bring income to you....just my opinion.
 
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It's a point of professionalism to not charge when you are checking someone out in a plane that will bring income to you....just my opinion.

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I agree completely.
 
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Within the last year I've checked out three CFI's in my 152. None stuck around long enough to do much....but that's okay. It's a point of professionalism to not charge when you are checking someone out in a plane that will bring income to you....just my opinion.

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I totally agree with this comment. However, unfortunately, not only did I pay for the aircraft on my interview flight (not the instructor time at least though), I was also required to have 10 hrs in one type of ac we have (Alarus CH2T), before I could instruct in it due to insurance. They tried to get me as much free time as possible in the plane doing photo flights, sightseeing, etc, but I still ended up paying for about 7 hrs @ $72/hr. Could've got the 10 hrs free probably, but it would've been a month or more before I could start instructing then, and it's our primary trainer. At least they gave me the time at their cost, for what that's worth. Experiences like this are apparently more common than I thought, talking to all my buddies who got 1st time instructing jobs.
 
So did you end up getting the job?

Personally, I would've laughed at the guy and asked if he was joking about paying. If they want you there, they should pay for it! I've never heard of anyone having to pay for an interview flight.
 
I think it's pretty shady for a flight school to charge you for the aircraft, instructor time, and fuel just for an interview. It should be free, but if they are really worried about losing money when instructors leave, then charge the *actual* per hour cost for the interview. They gave you a break to build the 10 hours, right? Charging full retail, plus instructor, plus fuel "surcharge" sounds like they are attempting to profit from the interview process.

Practices such as this may also speak volumes about what this chief instructor may be like as an employer. While working for ATP last year, I did some freelance work for a school that had revenue "targets" for each student, and I ended my relationship with them when they insisted I "take more time" with some students, like 20 hours for a multiengine rating regardless of the fact that I signed them off at 8.
 
Update: I have found something else. I asked if I could come out to just hang out at the school, and the co-owner discouraged me from showing up if I didn't have any students. He seemed to think that I'd be stealing students from his full time instructors. (?!?!)

I interviewed with another school that will be a great fit for me. Instead of driving 45 minutes, this school is less than a mile away from my house. I'll be riding a bicycle to work. I'm pretty fired up and starting to look for students in earnest.
 
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Update: I have found something else. I asked if I could come out to just hang out at the school, and the co-owner discouraged me from showing up if I didn't have any students. He seemed to think that I'd be stealing students from his full time instructors. (?!?!)

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Man, this guy is as flarked up as a baseball bat!!!
 
This is for MTSU-av8er: Contract CFI????

How do you cover your 6 in the legal department? What happens if your student dents the airplane or buys the farm?
 
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This is for MTSU-av8er: Contract CFI????

How do you cover your 6 in the legal department? What happens if your student dents the airplane or buys the farm?

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they have their own insurance, and I have mine!
 
Did you consider that the school likes the idea that you are a contract instructor and the liability falls directly in you lap?
 
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Did you consider that the school likes the idea that you are a contract instructor and the liability falls directly in you lap?

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I like the idea that I'm a contract instructor, too! All of the liability doesn't fall on my lap, however. I'm still instructing in the company's aircraft.
 
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So did you end up getting the job?

Personally, I would've laughed at the guy and asked if he was joking about paying. If they want you there, they should pay for it! I've never heard of anyone having to pay for an interview flight.

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Yeah, I got the job. And as it turns out, I really like working there too. They even gave all of us instructors a $50 Christmas bonus on this last check (sure it's small, but I was surprised to get one at all given that I'm actually an "independent contractor" using their airplanes).

And, for whoever it was that asked, they did try to help me out on the 10 hrs required time whenever they could, anything that wasn't strictly "instruction" I could do and get paid for, which counted towards my 10 hrs (sightseeing flights, etc). As for having to pay for the interview time, it was only the plane (at their cost) and no charge for the chief pilot's time, so it could've been worse....besides, interview flight wasn't even an hr long, so it wasn't much (though I was still surprised to be charged for it afterwards).
 
I'm with Lloyd, freelancing is WAY better. I freelance at 3 different smaller airports and I never was asked to pay for a checkout in a plane that I wasn't already checked out in. The two planes I do most of my instructing in the owners pay for my insurance. Freelancing really just means I get to make my own schedule, keep all my instructors fees, don't clean, minimum b.s. and EVERYTHING is tax deductable. Woo-Hoo!
 
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