Should CFI's settle for minimum wage?

[Toy Soldier]

I have spoken to the local school on the field and they won't raise their rates. They fall into the "flying is expensive" trap. YES, it is, but, like the book "The Savy CFI" says, "...people are going to pay someone, whether it's golf lessons, tennis, skiing, etc.". Folks just want to know that they are getting their "money's worth" when they pay us$50/hr - that's why I make sure that I am trained and qualified to give it to them.

Someone said earlier that the FBO won't "let" them charge anymore for instruction than they do. HEEELLLLOOOOO! Don't work for them! I freelance RIGHT NEXT TO THE FBO school and I "loudly" inform them of my rates regularaly.

I hate to sound coy.... but I SEEK out, INTERVIEW, and then SELECT the students that have the "income" to be able to fly regularly. This means getting into the lawyer and doctor circles, folks that have "professional" careers, etc. I do have a few students that are STUDENTS in college, etc, but my mainstay are the professional folks.

The local FBO asked me to join his team, I politely told him the economic reasons for NOT working for him. He understood. Oh, by the way, I was paying $30/hr to my instructor 4 years ago when I started flying and I didn't flinch one bit.....

We are a profession, we teach folks to fly in the national airspace system with liability that can be burdensome to our futures. Let's charge what we arew worth - just be sure to be worth what you charge for.

NAFI - I can not speak on NAFI's behalf since I only have my designation through them. I am not a NAFI representative. However, I will see if I can get some feedback from our professional organization.....


Fly safe!

 

[Timebuilder]

CFI pay has always been one of my pet peeves.

The problem is this: FBO's have the airplanes and the insurance. Most CFI's don't. No one can decide how much they will charge for instruction if they don't have an airplane in which they may instruct. For example, my old school owner wouldn't let me bring in my own students, rent one of his airplanes, and compete against him, even at higher rates, because that's one student (or more) that he won't be able to make money from. The only way I could make more money as an instructor would be to have access to a trainer or a twin. On my Lear FO salary, I don't have that opportunity.

Since most FBO's and flight schools see instructor billing as a profit center, they don't want to see any instructing going on where the instructor keeps the instruction money for himself. Many schools, I'll wager, would be calling the FAA and saying that the independent instructor is unsafe, teaches incorrectly, etc, etc, in order to try and drive him away, or put him out of business.

Greg Brown is right, in that flight instruction should be a professional endeavour. As long as young pilots think of instructing as a distasteful step in their climb to a prestigious position as a mainline captain, instruction will bring very little in the way of professional pay or stature.

It's economics and attitude that will keep flight instruction as it has been.

 

[RFtech]

Toy Soldier.

thanks for your input.

 

[Toy Soldier]

CFI unions??????

Let me preface by saying that I DON"T necessarily believe in unions...... but!

What if? Would it work? Is it worth it?

I can just see the responses that this one will bring up!

 

[sanford&son]

all the whores who ferry aircraft for EXPENSES and their friends, would SCAB out in a hurry. what would be cool is if there was a union that was "endorsed" by a nationally recognized professional organization, such as NAFI. that way, maybe it would be more desireable for the slavemaster FBO's to hire union members. well, that is a bit simplistic, but i don't see why it couldn't work. on the other hand, unions don't ALWAYS make things better for ANYBODY. if there was a national union for cfi's, i think that i would seriously consider joining it.

-lamont "big dummy" sanford

 

[Toy Soldier]

Sanford&son

You are right about the scabs. I do ferrying and I almost always lose out to the less-professional-always-free-expenses only-low timers that are building time.

However, if someone wants to trust their "baby" to a low-timer, then that's their problem. I figure it like this, them "freebieLUNCH ferryers are only ferrying "yahoo-in-the-pattern crap NEway! It does seem like the jobs I do get are for the nicer, more costly aircraft such as Twin Commanders, Barons, etc... Yahoos can't afford to pay for professional service - so they hire SCABS to fly their Cessna 150's from the east to teh west coast!!!!!

Also, 'dem scabs will whore themselves out as instructors too. I mean, darn, I saw $2 whores when I was in Tijuajuana.......

If I was a "whoring man" I'd want the $1000 hr whore.

 

[TurboS7]

Looks like the best thing I can do is start a flight school and charge $40.00 an hour for instruction. Then I'll pay some instructor $7.00 an hour while I sit and watch CNN. I bet there are tons of instructors willing to fly for that just so they can build time for the "big time" that may never come.Some times pilot's are fools.