FI(A)

[MycatsnameisBoeing]

HI,

I'm currently studying an intergrated ATPL-programme in Scandinavia. The course is finished this summer and I have little hope obtaining an airline job with so little experience. I'm thinking of becoming a flight instructor and I was wondering if you guys have any info about prices and job opportunities when the course is completeted.
Best regards, Dan

[Amin]

FI

Hello,

I'm a flight instructor in USA, so I don't know how much it is going to cost you to get your ratings in Europe. But regarding jobs I can tell you this that I belive we are going to see a shortage of flight instructors in the future. In US we start to see it, all the regional airlines are hiring with 500 tt or sometimes 300 tt, regionals are expanding big time, so how want to instruct .

Even in Europe there are a lot of Instructor jobs especially in UK. The big shortage right now is in China and India. I have been invited several times to China. They pay good, but not much flight time. I can tell you this if you get your FI license Beijing Pan Am Academy in china will hire you in a heart beat.


Good Luck

[MycatsnameisBoeing]

Hey,

Thanks for your reply! I had a look at the website for Beijing Pan Am Academy and it actually didn't look that bad. The fleet of a/c looked pretty new and it looked like they had fairly a lot of students. 1800$ a month doesn't sound that bad if you live cheap, and I guess that won't be that hard in china. Do you know anyone there? I would like to know if there's anything you should seriously consider before moving there. Do you know how many hours you scramble in a year?
Best regards, Dan

[VFE]

I can tell you this if you get your FI license Beijing Pan Am Academy in china will hire you in a heart beat.

It appears they're only interested in those qualified to teach instrument and multi at the moment. Thorough research of the locations, terms and conditions and quality of life is a must before even considering this one if you ask me. You will most likely be based in Baotou, Inner Mongolia which indeed sounds like a once in a lifetime experience, expecially when you realise that the oldest Tibetan monastry in China is situated there along with the worlds oldest Lama. But possibly not when you see realise the minimum term is 14 months with 3 months notice required and 100USD payout should you get camp fever (highly probable!) .

The pay equates to around £1000 sterling take home a month and of course would be tax free. If you have the required experience and are bored, single and frustrated instructing in the UK I'd definately look into it as this could be quite an adventure but I wouldn't go with the expectation that you'll still be able to muck spread your CV's to potential airlines every week! That said, if all they require are multi/IR instructors then the majority of guys likely to apply are going to career guys aren't they?

VFE.