Experienced Instructor shortage – take care in selecting a FTO

[porridge]

To all those undertaking a course of training towards a professional licence (especially JAR)
It has come to my attention that many well established FTO’s are going through a crisis in attracting and keeping experienced staff some of the problems are old, some new.
1. Airlines and other operators are mopping up instructors at a heady rate at the moment, both in Europe and the US
2. Recently graduated CPL/IR are investing in a type rating as opposed to the old hours building route via instructing
3. FTO’s overseas are short of JAR qualified staff either those with JAR rating or those standardised to JAR
4. Overseas FTO’s in the Middle East etc are offering good tax-free, expat packages, exacerbating the situation with JAR rated instructors further
5. Instructing has never been a viable financial option versus the money spent on getting qualified at the advanced level
6. It is easy, once experienced on Jet’s to go to instructing, but not vice versa
The solution is in the hands of the FTO’s to remunerate the instructor better, but more importantly they need to treat their staff in way that is more in line with modern company practice. Unfortunately most will not change their spots easily.
I suggest that all wanabees get look carefully at potential training providers to ensure they can deliver on what they promise. Find out what their instructor turnover is like and whether they have in-house programmes to attract, train and employ instructors. Most will have seen that FTO’s that are now offering instructor sponsorship. Offering is one thing, being able to deliver on the instructor training is another as they sometimes don’t have the facilities or staff to deliver what they are offering to sponsor!
Why do I know? Because as a FIC instructor I have CFI’s and schools contacting me to refer recently graduated, or even those still under training, to them for jobs. That is at the inexperienced level, at the advanced level schools are poaching staff from one another, but there only a limited resource out there to draw from.
Caveat emptor guys, promises can’t deliver the goods if the staff are not there to do it!

[FlyingForFun]

Porridge,

I agree with your comments, and anyone intending to spend a large amount of money with any school should always check whether the school meets their requirements.

However, as an FIC instructor, are you suggesting that the candidates you put forward for test (and which an examiner subsequently passes) are not fit to instruct?

Of more relevance to Wannabes, though, are the requirements for teaching the advanced courses. To teach for the MEP, or do any other training in an MEP, an instructor must have an unrestricted instructor rating (which implies a certain level of instructing experience), as well as MEP P1 experience. To teach for the CPL, an instructor must have a much higher experience of instructing. And to instruct for the IR, the instructor must have an unrestricted instructor rating and a certain level of IFR experience. This is in addition to undergoing additional courses and tests to be able to teach multi-engine and IR, and it's also in addition to the regular checks which the CAA carry out on all schools conducting CPL/IR training, where they will check, amongst other things, that the school has in place a system for training and standardising its instructors.

So, while staff turnover and poaching might be an issue, and a general lack of instructors might also be an issue, I'm not convinced there's any risk of CPL/IR students being training by underqualified instructors. Unless you know of any examples (no need to give names)?

FFF
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[Adios]

PPrune wannabe forums hardly seem like the place to say the schools should spend more money on staff. This is the place to complain about the high cost of training, not to argue for making it higher! :ugh:

Are you saying one actually gets what they pay for? And here I was waiting for Wal-Mart to start offering JAA training in the US. Me bubble is burst and just in the nick of time!

Sarcasm aside, I agree with most of what you have written and there probably are quite a few naive wannabes that need to hear it. Cheapest isn't always best and sometimes it's a whole lot worse.

[porridge]

FFF
However, as an FIC instructor, are you suggesting that the candidates you put forward for test (and which an examiner subsequently passes) are not fit to instruct?
No, I don't mean that at all - what I am saying that they are fit to instruct, just that by "inexperienced" I mean they have little overall and instructional experience when they graduate.
Schools are taking people with sometime less than 100 hours instruction and with their restrictions in place to teach or work on approved courses doing SPIC etc. Fact of life at the moment, obviously I don't want to name which schools are doing it, look at the adverts for instructors and one can work it out who they are. The majority of FTO's, particularly the larger ones doing approved courses, are are understaffed with high student to instructor ratios.
The problem is getting instructors with experience to stay in the business, as fast as they get experience they are gone to an airline. With the money they have spent getting their CPL/IR etc who can blame them?

[potkettleblack]

Problem is there are to many schools with the students spread to thin. Just look at the CAA list of approved FTO's to see how many there are. Many of the smaller schools have 1 twin and 1 tired old wobbly prop aircraft. The CPL and IR stuff is being cross subsidised or vice versa from the PPL operation and the school is run on this basis ie: instructors get paid little or no money and the owner knows they will move on once unrestricted so pay them pittance. If there were less schools then maybe not only would salaries be higher but the standard of training would be far better as well.

Go outside of the UK and there are even more schools competing for the wannabes money.