You must be a CFI they said...

TXRaiderPilot22

TXRaiderPilot22

Well-Known Member
Hello Folks,

I'm looking for a little advice here, some words of wisdom for Single/Multi Commercial pilot with 300tt with 52 hrs multi. I have recently completed my commercial licenses and was told by a handful of people that "You better not look for a job and just go to CFI school because that is the only way you are going to make it in this world. You HAVE to be a CFI to be a pilot". I want to know if this is really the case or just something someone told them. I've meet some pilots along the way that got it and have never signed off a single student or even had a student. Do you really HAVE to get your CFI or can you do it without one?

Thank y'all in advance for any advice you can lend a new guy,
TXRaiderPilot22
 
No, you don't need to be a CFI to make it as a "real pilot." There a plenty of jobs out there that you can pickup other than instructing (banner towing, aerial survey, skydivers, etc). I worked for a part 135 operator that picked me up at 270 hours and could of done that all the way up to my ATP mins. You just have to find the job. Good luck.
 
You don't HAVE to get your CFI to make it. I managed to pull it off through banner towing, ferrying planes to and from maintenance, survey, freight, and am now at a regional. I never even started working towards any of my instructor ratings. So, yes it is possible. It wasn't easy, but I built a lot of real world experience while actually having my hands on the controls.

Granted, I think working in a crew I can see where a CFI would definitely be beneficial and I may end up pursuing it in the end. Time will tell...
 
I graduated a large aviation college with 300 hours COM SEL MEL MES and couldn't find a job. I moved down to Florida do get my CFI/CFII, and got hired at that school. I did 2 days of instruction (2 flights) and got hired at Pinnacle. Kept my CFI current at did a few BFR's and IPC's for fun.

Pinnacle went downhill, I left, and became a FE on a 727. A year into that I was made a ground and simulator instructor for the 727 - only because I had my CFI and another guy let his expire. I'm sure this will be a talking point for interviews to come.

So my CFI didn't necessarily help me get jobs - but it definitely helped me in the long run, plus it gets me into cool GA planes for the random BFR.

I say get it.
 
I had my CFI/II but barely instructed for a few months before heading to a regional. I found out the airlines weren't for me and headed off to fly 135 freight. My CFI helped lead me to be a company instructor and later Check Airman, which led me to being the Assistant Chief Pilot today.

Get it. It's ridiculously easy to keep it from lapsing and you never know when you might need or want it.
 
You don't need it, but your path won't be as clearly laid out. Plenty of opportunities, but YOU have to find them and seek them out. You'll have to move there to.
 
As an IP and the company safety officer at my previous job, I can say the days of hiring guys with 300TT and no CFI are pretty much gone. We would mostly hire 500 to 1,000 hour guys who had their CFI certs (and some who didn't) and we would occasionally consider a guy with less than 500TT if they were local and had a CFI. But honestly at 300TT you just aren't hirable. Most companies insurance would freak out if they knew they hired you.
 
What are your objections to getting your CFI? Do you feel you will hate teaching, or is it just the money and time required?

If it's that you think you will hate teaching and want to avoid it at all costs, then you can try to follow in footsteps of others who made it without instructing. Very difficult in today's environment and a serious uphill battle, but it's not impossible and the challenges may be worth it to you if you really want to avoid teaching.

If you're tired of training and don't want to spend more time and money, then just suck it up and get your CFI. You will have a dramatically easier time moving forward.
 
I feel like getting your CFI Is definitely the hardest thing you're gonna do, but at least once it's achieved you can just coast all the way up to 1500 hours or whatever you're looking to do.

I didn't have to move. If the flight school closed there were a million others close by. I didn't have to apply somewhere else to get twin time. Never had to sit SIC in something. Oh and most CFI jobs pay a lot better than banner towing.

So basically, no you don't need it, but it's actually potentially a lot longer, more difficult road in the end while depriving your resume of something most pilots DO have.
 
What do ultimately want to do with your flying? You may not like flight instructing, but it may get you a little closer to your goals more quickly. I knocked out 1000 hours in a year, easily, flight instructing at a big school. It's not easy studying for the CFI certs, it may not be what you want to do....but a year or two instructing to get you closer to your goals is really a short amount of time. And the amount you will learn as an instructor will amaze you.
 
Being an instructor pilot has been the single most significant contributor in the maturation and development of my airmanship...this said as a 3500-hour USAF fighter pilot with over 1000 hours of actual combat time getting shot at in, and killing bad people with, high performance jet airplanes.

Don't do it because of any other reason than, simply, it will make you a much better pilot and aviator. Do it.
 
Like others have said you don't have to get one, BUT you going to have to really look hard for a job and may have to make certain sacrifices for said job. I made it to a regional airline without it.
 
I haven't gotten mine yet, I got really lucky with the opportunities I've come across. I've taken the written, and wouldn't be allowed to instruct anyway, but it's something I plan on getting done and keeping up.
 
Yep, Initially I found it annoying that CFI was the only way. Teaching is not for everyone. You need patience and people skills. CFI should be for experienced retired Airmen with lots of experience or people who sincerely want to teach. The FAA needs to create more opportunity for low time pilots. They should like create a type of "right seat time" for the Commercial PTS that require the applicant to build X hours in 135 or commercial operations before taking the checkride. But since we can't do nothing about it, and most of the jobs out there are for CFI's, might as well try and do it. I say just try all options, and see what you like the most.
 
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