How much for a Flying Instructor?

[feetnkneestogether]

Chasps,
Just looking into the market here.

If you're a low hour pilot with a new FI rating what can you expect to get paid working in South Central England? (How do I pay the bills etc...)

Also, what's the market like right now for instructing jobs?
Any recommendations ?

Thank you........

[GJB]

Pay is poor, I believe.

Demand for FI's is quite high now that the self-improver route has gone. I still think it is a good way to build hours and experience. Furthermore it is still a flying job, while you wait for that 1st airline position.

[This message has been edited by GJB (edited 19 February 2001).]

[inflatablegiraffe]

I was on £11,000 a year as a QFI and this was considered about normal. That was salaried without flight pay. You would probably make more if you were on a flightpay basis, if you worked your butt off in the summer:but then of course you panic during the winter when the bills arrive and then the student can suffer as you could end up flying in,er, less than ideal conditions...

[RVR800]

Unfortunately

It national minimum wage territory and
contrary to what most people believe,
there is no shortage of instructors
either, at least not up North ..

Most people still need hours to get a job
and I dont believe this situation will
change..

[SpeedBird22]

What a ridiculous salary for a position of responsibility. For the sake of standards of flying and for the sanity of FI's I think much more is in order.

SB22

[scarebus]

Pretty piss poor
A Club I know
-Retainer: £200 p/m
-Hourly Rate: £10 not including the tax mans cut

Expect to do anything between 5-30 hours per month in the winter, mind you the wet weather and grass strips dont help.
Summers are fine normally 60-90 hours per month

[steven]

Hi chaps I have worked in flying clubs in the pass and the standard of living for FI is pretty poor in your bog standard flying club. The guys I came accross ranged from people being paid a £3000 a year retainer and then £4 p/h flight pay. Some schools will just pay £10-12 per flight hour, so you don't get paid for briefings etc. This isn't good. The pay packages depend on the club and airport. You can do a little better on standard flight pay yet many schools are suffering from low business at the moment so there is not much flying. You can have every desire to work your **** off yet you may find yourself driving into the airport just for one flight. However if you find a busy school in the summer you could rake in quality hours and be able to afford to live.
Some schools pay something like £10,000 per year plus flight pay which at a busy school doesn't work out too bad.
Although the self-improver route has gone and there is little incentive to do the FI rating there is still no shortage of FI's at the moment. The JAR system has not been running that long and there are still guys left over from the CAA system.
What there is a shortage of is QFI's. Flying schools need these quite badly as they want someone cheap to take responability of flights.
Large flying schools like cabair and oxford don't pay too badly for FI's.
Even though the self improver system has gone I still think there will be people doing FI ratings to gain hours and experience for the airlines.
Its not that bad an outlook I would advise looking at the busy airports and going for the places where there are going to be lots of flying hours. I had a friend who went to a school as an FI and gained 850 hrs in a year and is now ready to go to an airline, so it can't be that bad.