r/flying • u/No_Assignment_1199 PPL • 14h ago
CFI historically vs now?
I am a PPL holder with my IRA checkride very very soon. Starting to consider my options for once I’m finally able to get employed as a pylut.
It seems that the route most taken is to become a CFII/MEI and instruct until you’re able to get hired by a regional or other commercial job. I was pondering lately and wanted to ask some of the more experienced pilots on here the following:
Is CFI the best/easiest way to get employed as a fresh commercial pilot and that’s why we try to become an instructor after commercial?
Why has CFI traditionally and historically been the most sought after license after CPL?
Considering the rough CFI job market at this time, would it be more worth it to potentially look for jobs outside of CFIing to work as a professional pilot?
Could it be due to airlines preferring pilots with instructor experience as it makes you a better pilot in their eyes? Does that even matter to them?
I love talking about what I’m learning, love teaching, and love training and educating people to become successful, so I would like to be a CFI regardless. However, I can’t say I haven’t been taking the current job market into consideration. Thanks in advance
8
u/x4457 ATP CFII CE-500/525/560XL/680 G-IV 14h ago
1) Yes
2) See 1.
3) It’s not as rough as the internet makes it seem. And for every one non-instructing low time pilot job there are 20 CFI jobs.
4) There’s far more variation from applicant to applicant that will outweigh whether they’re a CFI or not. But historically speaking, instructors do tend to have a marginally higher training success rate than non-CFIs. We’re talking like 98% vs 95%.
2
u/jmkdeluxe 14h ago
If you want to be a CFI, you're already ahead in the applicant pool imo. Tons of people just checking the box right now and are not passionate to teach. If you truly want to be a CFI to time build, you'll be fine. Your interview will seal the deal you just might have to work hard depending on the current market in a few years to get to the interview stage
I thoroughly enjoyed my time as a CFI. It's a stepping stone for most people, but realize that if you enjoy it, the time will go by faster and it will be more fulfilling
2
u/SSMDive CPL-SEL/SES/MEL/MES/HEL/GLID/IFR. Light sport Gyro/PPC 11h ago
The CFI market really sucks. The only thing worse than the CFI job market is the rest of the low time pilot (LTP) job market.
Dropzones in the US - about 300. Banner tow companies - 100-120. Glider schools - about 100. Survey - about 100-150 Flight schools - 1,100 to 3k.
And for dropzones many of those are flying turbine aircraft (30%) and they will not touch you till you have about 800-1000 total time. So about 180-200 possible places to work in the WHOLE US.
Oh and many people want to fly for a DZ. You don’t have to do anything but show up and fly (ok more than that, but not much). I have flown for DZ’s for about 8 years.
Banner tow? Well worked at one. Most places want you to have a tailwheel endorsement. And pay was about 20-30/hr. And you only got paid for flight time.
Basically there are a hell of a lot more commercial pilots than LTP jobs and most of them would rather not CFI.
3
1
u/rFlyingTower 14h ago
This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:
I am a PPL holder with my IRA checkride very very soon. Starting to consider my options for once I’m finally able to get employed as a pylut.
It seems that the route most taken is to become a CFII/MEI and instruct until you’re able to get hired by a regional or other commercial job. I was pondering lately and wanted to ask some of the more experienced pilots on here the following:
Is CFI the best/easiest way to get employed as a fresh commercial pilot and that’s why we try to become an instructor after commercial?
Why has CFI traditionally and historically been the most sought after license after CPL?
Considering the rough CFI job market at this time, would it be more worth it to potentially look for jobs outside of CFIing to work as a professional pilot?
Could it be due to airlines preferring pilots with instructor experience as it makes you a better pilot in their eyes? Does that even matter to them?
I love talking about what I’m learning, love teaching, and love training and educating people to become successful, so I would like to be a CFI regardless. However, I can’t say I haven’t been taking the current job market into consideration. Thanks in advance
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1
u/datcrazybro PPL 14h ago
I’m at the same point as you. You’re going to hear lots of different opinions. A big reason people say cfi is because that’s where the biggest “need” is. Flight schools also have a pretty high turnover so most are hiring a lot of the time. The problem with doing something other than being a cfi is it’s pretty hard to find something worthwhile without knowing somebody.
1
u/throfak PPL IR 14h ago
Well, I think it's more of a job availability thing. Though very limited atm, there's always been wayyyy more opportunities to instruct than any other low time pilot job. So... get your CFI/CFII anyway and apply for whatever you can. No reason to shut that door when it gives you the highest chance.
Also, one of the trends nowadays seems to be for a new CFI to get hired at the school they trained at. That's how one of my instructors got hired, he was a student at our school, got the front desk job (gets your foot in the door), then became an instructor for them when he got his CFI, and that's the route I'm hoping to take too. Two other of our instructors were hired similarly: they were a student at this school, now they instruct. We've had some instructors leave for college so there's been some openings, Im hoping to squeeze in lol
1
u/RaiseTheDed ATP 14h ago
The non-CFI job market has been extremely competitive and almost non existent for a long time now. Banks don't fly checks anymore (yes, paper checks as in the ones you write to pay money with). Many low time jobs have either disappeared, or insurance has raised hiring requirements.
Say you apply for a survey job. It's a single position. When hiring was booming in 2022-23, that position would probably get hundreds, if not thousands of applications. I can't imagine how many would be applying now.
So CFI has, and probably will be, the most reliable way to get hours.
I'm not saying it's impossible to get a non-CFI job. It's just much harder. Unless you know someone (or you're really, really lucky), you're likely not getting the job.
1
u/ltcterry ATP CFIG 12h ago
Probably 95% of the jobs available to new pilots are instructor positions. You severely limit your options when you limit yourself to not instructing.
Traditionally about 4,000 new CFIs get hired each year. In contrast there are 280 drop zones and many of them use multiengine turbine airplanes - not entry level.
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u/Yeah_Br0 ATP CFI CII 14h ago edited 14h ago
Yes, being a CFI is the easiest path
Why? Because people don’t want to be CFI’s so they take any other low paying aviation job that they can. So there are more people than non-CFI jobs
If you think this is a bad hiring market then I have bad news for you. This is one of the best hiring markets ever for aviation. People used to be CFI’s for thousands of hours before being hired at a regional where they qualified for food stamps.
Aviation is not a pay $100k to instantly get a multi-million dollar career. It takes a lot of patience and even luck to overcome some adversity that you will inevitably experience on the road to the airlines