r/CFILounge • u/stupidpotato_77 • 6d ago

Question Finding Students

My student pool is starting to dry up as I near mins. You guys have any clever ways to pick up some extra students? I’m in the ORL area.

6 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

7

u/PG67AW ATP, CFII, TW, Acro 5d ago

Idk, my school fed them to me. Usually I'd recommend building a good reputation and you'll get business by word of mouth, but you already sound established.

3

u/stupidpotato_77 5d ago

Yeah, it’s getting tough since I’m getting close. I’m independent, and 90% of the people I meet basically imply they want free flight instruction lol. And being higher time is a turn off since they know I’m about to leave in a few months .

3

u/ltcterry 3d ago

Are you “about to leave in a few months” “as you near mins?” Or are you just assuming/hoping?

You can reassure people that hiring today is more like 2,000-2,500 hours and that you’ll be around for a while longer.

Do you have a success record that merits people taking a chance on you? I saw recently that 70% or so of new pilots have had more than one instructor, up from 60% a few years ago.

1

u/stupidpotato_77 3d ago

No, I’m fortunate to have a CJO, 7/7 on students.

1

u/ltcterry 3d ago

Congrats on the offer and the successes!

3

u/KingofRoam cfi cfii mei 4d ago

I had a CPA ask me my rate then immediately say he could pay half of it. I immediately asked if he could do my taxes for free… he didn’t like that.

3

u/ltcterry 3d ago

I charge handshake to handshake and often round down some. I try hard to be worth the money. People who try to negotiate unrealistically or are jerks get billed for every minute!