1. Are instructors given a salary/wage that is commensurate to their length of training/financial commitment/experience?
They are paid what the market dictates like any market; at the moment there is a surplus of pilots and a shortage of money result reduced T&C; at no time since WWII has it been a career that is well paid bottom of the food chain sadly; I was told by a deceased pilot that pre WWII FI were well paid....
there was a shortage of supply...
2. Compared to other careers paths, is the salary/wage for a position as an instructor attractive?
Its hourly paid and hourly paid work is often low wage; if you factor in the hours that instructors attend and are not airbourne its national min wage territory.. of course when the plans to reduce the training requirement of FIs is introduced the situation will worsen.. many may do it for nothing as has happened in the past before..
3. Is the career path of flight instructing widely seen as a stepping stone to get entry into a career in the airlines? This is changing as the difference between a six pack C150 display and a modern airliner with it glass cockpit push button operation means that in reality although hours are being accrued they have less relevance to airline flying compared to flying a Dakota
after the war (eg). A lot of single crew pratices are not relevant to the automated environment of the airliner. That said skills acquired and retained in GA are cited as evidence of hands on flying rather than the rather less direct handling skills being required by airline pilots these days and so the tide is turning a little. There is a big technological gulf between GA and Airliners..
4. Due to the inherent forces acting upon more experienced pilots to gravitate towards airline employment, is there a lack of experience in GA or flight instruction? Not at the moment due to the global economy ; it cyclical
5. Do you think that many perceive a career in flight instruction as demeaning, or of lower prestige, than a career in an airline? Less so now ; many airline pilots want indeed feel the need to retain core skills; so the basic flying taught by FIs is increasingly valued ; no on esees it as demeaning they see it as a poorly paid career