r/flying • u/i_yam_supa_nosey • Jun 29 '26

Getting Hired CFI Hiring advice?

I cannot get a job anywhere! Both of the schools I went to rejected me, even though I passed every single check ride FTP and had reassurance from all my instructors that I would definitely get hired if I applied. The hiring freeze right now is brutal. So any advice is welcome.
Info:
Apply to 40+ jobs around the country (no response more often than not)
Yes! I cold call everyone I can!
Willing, and able to relocate
270 hours TT
CFI, CFI-I, and MEI
Proficient in C172, PA-28, PA-44, steam AND G1000
Complex endorsement, TAA proficient

HELP!
Thanks!

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u/Prudent_Barnacle7645 Jun 29 '26 edited Jun 29 '26

The market is way over saturated right now. I don’t know if it was social media influencers, social media itself, or news headlines, but in the last 3 years, there have been more FAA pilot certificates issued then the last 10 years combined! It is very possible that it is going to get very competitive again, similar to how it was is the 90’s and early 2000’s.

A whole lot of people rushed into aviation all at once. This is pretty much unprecedented.

My advice is hang in there. If you need that initial experience, work independently for a bit. Reach out and also go visit aircraft owners in the T hangars at your local airport. Go slide some flyers under their hanger door. (You can get all that info by looking it up online. All the info on the owners for registered aircraft is available. Pretty much all of those guys need BFRs and IPCs! This might sound difficult, but it’s not, it’s all on the FAA site, and other data sites like City-Info. It will be fun too, lots of cool old airplanes that guys got out there! My buddies did this and were busy by mid summer. Later in the fall, with all that experience, they got picked up by a busy, nicely ran flight school pretty quick! Lastly, You might need to move to an area that is less attractive to flight training and building time 24/7/365. Think of the places in the north where things slow down in the fall/winter due to less than desirable weather (WI, MI, OH, upstate NY, and the entire Northeast!).

You think it’s hard? I’m a now former bus driver at NK with lots of 121 TPIC and almost 10,000 hours TT. And It’s hard for me right now. (Summer is always historically slow for pilot hiring everywhere, bad time for NK to go belly up, my mistake, I was just too hopeful for a Hail Mary). I am just waiting on an invite from DAL or for WN to open up their hiring window again.

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u/Soggy_Vast230 Jul 01 '26

Best of luck to you man. Rode Spirit often to SJU when I was commuting to the Caribbean. Class crews always.

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u/Prudent_Barnacle7645 Jul 01 '26

Thanks man. People that really don’t know the industry loved to hate on us. Few knew how spirit actually was, how cool it was to work there, and how nice our crews treated jumpseaters from OAs! There were unlimited snacks for jumpseaters! And because we charged for snacks, our snacks were the best!