Teaching sched. vs. corporate call-ups?

H

HelloCentral

New Member
How do you handle having students on your schedule vs. short-notice call-ups to fly right seat for a corporate gig?

My instructor is a great guy and I've enjoyed learning from him, but I'm getting very frustrated when he cancels on me, sometimes with a couple of days notice, sometimes with less than an hour's notice because he gets a call from corporate. I have ~5 hours to go until my commercial checkride, am in the middle of a week off when I was hoping to get most kinks ironed out, and of course, here comes @#$%^&*() corporate and I get stood up.

I'm gonna finish up WHATEVER IT TAKES, I just wanna know, is this a common practice?! Sorry, but this royally sucks from the student perspective. :mad: This has happened many times.
 
HelloCentral said:
How do you handle having students on your schedule vs. short-notice call-ups to fly right seat for a corporate gig?

My instructor is a great guy and I've enjoyed learning from him, but I'm getting very frustrated when he cancels on me, sometimes with a couple of days notice, sometimes with less than an hour's notice because he gets a call from corporate. I have ~5 hours to go until my commercial checkride, am in the middle of a week off when I was hoping to get most kinks ironed out, and of course, here comes @#$%^&*() corporate and I get stood up.

I'm gonna finish up WHATEVER IT TAKES, I just wanna know, is this a common practice?! Sorry, but this royally sucks from the student perspective. :mad:
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It really does and I would look into dropping that CFI. I'm HOPEFULLY about to be in your instructors situation but will only be flying when no students are on my schedule and I can block my schedule off.

EDIT: Come out to the D.C. area I'll finish you up. I haven't flown in a week. No damn students out here. :)
 
Man, some places there aren't enough students, other places students have to wait and wait...This, it seems, is a drawback of doing it at a smaller FBO.

jhugz said:
It really does and I would look into dropping that CFI. I'm HOPEFULLY about to be in your instructors situation but will only be flying when no students are on my schedule and I can block my schedule off.

EDIT: Come out to the D.C. area I'll finish you up. I haven't flown in a week. No damn students out here. :)
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I apologize to the student, try to arrange another instructor, and then go do the job that pays a living wage.
 
Is he an independent instructor, or a flight school employee?

I take it this is happening at least once/twice a month with you, and even more often with other students for you to make a rant.

If he is independent, he's being a sleeze. If he is an employee, take it up with the flight school/FBO, even if he is flying for the FBO.

We have a CFI (employee) that is a pilot for the local ANG unit. There have been a couple of times that he has gotten a call and had to cancel a lesson, But they are few and far between, (I think 3 times in a year or so), and depending on what the student wants, we can get another instructor in that time slot, or reschedule. Of course legally you have to accommodate all guard assignments. All the other instructors (as Part-time employees, they all have primary jobs, or are semi retired) they can block a day to fly for a corporate place (not that there are any, but this is the policy) but if a student schedules, and then gets cancelled, thats when the management (me) gets pissy, especially after its happened a couple of times. All in all though all of our current instructors are great about blocking the time out that they need early, and keeping the communication open and not doing any BS with the schedules. In that sense its definitely an advantage to have instructors that are not in it primarily for the hours in the logbook, but rather to instruct, stay busy and get paid to fly, rather than the other way around. Now the scenic pilots on the other hand, thats a different story. I think we are going to be looking for 2 next summer. Please no resumes right now, but I'll keep y'all updated and make a post in the yobs available forum, if its official.
 
I don't find it acceptable when students cancel on me without valid reason, and the door goes both ways. I charge my students if they booked me and cancel without a few DAYS notice, and I can't fill the slot.

Why? They're adults and training to handle responsibility. If you book me and "something better" comes along, well that's not my damn fault that you changed your mind about what you want to be doing. You're getting my bill.

I would be frank with this instructor. You need to let it be known that these frequent cancellations are unacceptable and if it happens again you're dropping him. He's bailing on you to make money, or gain experience or whatever. Imagine how he might react when you let him know it's going to be a little less if this continues.

As a CFI I have NEVER cx a student because I had other opportunities. I have arranged the opportunities within the schedule I already have. That's what respectable adults do.

Your CFI is like a mechanic canceling the guy who comes in every week to get his oil changed for the guy who comes along once to get a radiator replaced. You might be chump change, but you add up after a while and you're dependable. How long will you put up with it?
 
I think it depends on if he informed you of this when you began training with him. If he was upfront and frank about it and told you there may be times that he has to cancel do to having to take a corporate flight than I dont think you have room to complain. In that situation you knew of the possbility and still decided to train with him. Now if he didnt tell you about it before hand and you found out when it started to happen that is alittle different.

There is a few instructors out here that have full time jobs and CFIing is just part time and their students are told upfront and understand that because of their other jobs there will be times they have to cancel lessons when things come up at their main job. There just has to be a understanding between the instructor and student before training begins.
 
This has been happening several times a month for me. The flight school knows--in fact, the owner is often the one requesting that the CFI come join him on a corporate flight. I really want to go talk to the owner, but at the same time, I'm hesitant to make too much of a fuss because this is the only place in town and I want to be hired there as an instructor, soon. However, I will not be standing up my students...

OldTownPilot said:
Is he an independent instructor, or a flight school employee?

I take it this is happening at least once/twice a month with you, and even more often with other students for you to make a rant.

If he is independent, he's being a sleeze. If he is an employee, take it up with the flight school/FBO, even if he is flying for the FBO.
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This is his main, full-time job for the time being. I completely understand that career pilot folks who want to fly for the regionals/corporate etc. next are frustrated after teaching for a while and still not seeing any doors open, but as a student, why should I suffer, especially as a fairly dedicated, regular student? Why should I deal with constant unscheduled gaps in training that make it inefficient? Weather is enough to contend with, always have to factor in possible illnesses, etc. now that it's flu season :-(

Some CFIs want to have their cake and eat it too: have a schedule full of students, and yet be open to a corporate call. If corporate wants them that day, students get cancelled on and rescheduled for whenever. My main point is there has to be a better way of dealing with the lure of corporate time.

Jbroz04 said:
There is a few instructors out here that have full time jobs and CFIing is just part time and their students are told upfront and understand that because of their other jobs there will be times they have to cancel lessons when things come up at their main job. There just has to be a understanding between the instructor and student before training begins.
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I tell my students before the first flight that my main job is a corporate job, and there WILL be flights that will be canceled and that flight instructing is like my 2nd job. They dont have to use me, I got other instructors that will gladly fly with them if they would like. So far I only had to cancel about 3 flights this year, and all three did not want to use another instructor. I got 7 students at the moment and they came to me because Im the most experienced instructor on the field. If they want a different instructor then Im not gonna stop them from going. I give them the option and so far no one had a problem with me.
 
Does he get paid to do the "corporate" flying? If not, point and laugh, go ahead it's okay.
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Is there a second flight instructor there to fly with as a back up?

If he can't fly as much as you want, but don't want a new instructor this late in the game, it is not a bad thing to have two instructors. Just keep the back up, up to speed.
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It is a delicate balance. I can typically move all my students to an open instructor. In the past, if I'm booked all day, company will either give the flight to somebody else or not take the charter. Typically not an isssue though.
 
minitour said:
Checks are nice and all but.... In God we trust, all others cash.:D

-mini
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:yeahthat:

I have never had a serious conflict with my job and instructing; but I never get last minute call outs. When I start with a student I sit them down and explain that it is my small time corporate job that feeds my kids, and that I will give them as much notice as possible if there is a conflict; if that doesn't work for them I can recommend another instructor for them.

I think like most situations communication is the key.
 
bdhill1979 said:
I think like most situations communication is the key.
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Agreed. It's all good as long as student and instructor are on the same page.

At my school we don't care if the instructor has an outside gig as long as it *never* conflicts with their teaching. If they have to turn down 50 hours of King Air time in order fly with one or two customers at the flight school...too bad for them, that's how it works. The flight school comes first until they decide it's time to make a clean break and leave the fight school entirely.

We have it set up this way now because of bad experiences with customer service we've had in the past, similar to the OP's situation.

But everywhere is different. To the OP: talk to your instructor / flight school owner about the issue and if they can't satisfy you, don't be afraid to finish elsewhere (even if that means commuting to the next town over). There's no reason to feel guilty about bringing it up. You're the customer, you're in charge of your own destiny.
 
HelloCentral said:
How do you handle having students on your schedule vs. short-notice call-ups to fly right seat for a corporate gig?

My instructor is a great guy and I've enjoyed learning from him, but I'm getting very frustrated when he cancels on me, sometimes with a couple of days notice, sometimes with less than an hour's notice because he gets a call from corporate. I have ~5 hours to go until my commercial checkride, am in the middle of a week off when I was hoping to get most kinks ironed out, and of course, here comes @#$%^&*() corporate and I get stood up.

I'm gonna finish up WHATEVER IT TAKES, I just wanna know, is this a common practice?! Sorry, but this royally sucks from the student perspective. :mad: This has happened many times.
Click to expand...

You might talk to your instructor and point out how many times you've been cancelled recently (make sure you have your facts right). Tell him you're happy he is having an opportunity to advance his career, but with the impending CPL test in your future, you need him to make you more of a priority so you can complete the training course he's been teaching you. (I always tell my students that consistency is the key to learning. If he told you that, use his words against him.)

If you're a pushover every time he cancels on you, then you are enabling his behavior. Start being a PITA and you might get a better result. If you never complain, he may think you have no problem with his pattern of behavior. Make sure he knows how you feel.
 
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