FI earning potential

[Lokki]

Hi I'm just curious as to how much a FI can expect to earn and how many hours in general a month are spent flying?

I appreciate this would vary depending on the school, season, weather etc..

But just a general picture would be good.

[Dusty_B]

If you have to ask, you can't afford it!

I've been working 'freelance' for the past year (by choice at first, allowing my diary and availability for other work to remain flexible), and the Tax Return wasn't pretty. Getting out of the personal allowance bracket is my goal for this year!

Different schools will work with different morals. If you can get an employed position (whether fixed salary, or basic rate plus hourly rate), go for it. You could get £12k-£18k for a five day week, and between 20 and 60 hours a month depending on daylight, weather, and how proactive the ops desk is in arranging/rearranging bookings.

[sapperkenno]

If your driving factor is money and flying hours, keep away.

I earn £25 per airborne hour, and we don't have any retainer or get paid for ground tuition. Days in summer are long (10+ hours often, and a nice 1 hour commute each way) and on a good day it's possible to make £100-125. Winter (or any bad weather period) is a bitch, and you'll be lucky to get the same amount in a fortnight. Quite often you'll spend all day sitting around giving ground tuition or waiting for weather that never clears and earning nothing.

That said, if you build up a good client base, and are good at and more importantly enjoy it (it's not work if you see it as getting paid to do your hobby and something you're passionate about) you'll have a blast and can sometimes get to fly all sorts of aircraft.

I enjoy flying little (proper) planes though, and the idea of being a slave to some airlines ops department doesn't interest me all that much. I think my best weeks had me earning £500 quite comfortably, and flying 20-30 hour during a 5-6 day week.

Rough averages from my POV are £600-£1000/month, and flying around 15 hours a week. And that's over the last couple of years I've been at it full-time. Obviously loads more in summer than winter, but I think that accurately portrays how it evens out over a year.

[n.dave]

As a freelance newbie instructor, I work for 2 schools.
School A pays £20/ flying hour with no attendance fee.
School B pays £15/ flying hour with attendance fee (petrol money).
Hours are around 15-25/ month.
Note, fueling the a/c, towing the a/c, briefs & debriefs, bookings, paperwork and lots more paperwork you DONT get paid:eek:
Part time work at other job (non aviation related) just to feed the baby:}

[Broadlands]

1. Work out how much you need to live on.

2. Take the figure from 1. and then halve it.

[Hawk711]

I work part time (weekends only) in a busy flying school. They pay £20 per flying hour and i am averaging 10 hrs per weekend. None of us do it for the money! Clearly!