Worth Doing an Instructor Rating during Credit Crunch???
 

I finished my training a few months ago and have a frozen ATPL. Tried most airlines in this world but haven't recieved much positive feedback.

Obviously, jobs with airlines are really hard to find hence the £6000 question, would anyone advise doing an Instructor rating while waiting for the economy to improve and then getting into airilines???

Jobs in Instructing are also on the decline as to my research so far but it will build hours, experience and contribute to the ever increasing cost of living.

Instructor pay scales would also help in making a decision.

All ideas appreciated.


MHN

Moderators

I'm fairly new to this so if you think I've put this thread in the wrong section, by all means, move it

cheers

MHN

My 2 local clubs are very quiet just now with bookings. They are both fairly big clubs, 1 with normally a high turnover of instructors. In that particular club however, no instructor's have left for the airlines for months now. The club wont be recruiting any FI's til further notice.

The FI ticket is a sound move but in the current climate you will struggle to get a job. If paid by the flying hour, you will be struggling to make ends meet.

MHN.....

Good question mate. I was doing some soul searching whilst walking the dog this afternoon and asked myself the same question. I can't decide either and I will be done with my training fairly soon. As MikeCR says, instructor jobs are on the decline. Ive got a couple of mates instructing and they are struggling to make ends meet at the mo.

I'm seriously considering becoming an instructor for 5 years or so and moving onto CPL/IR instruction. There's reasonably good money in that and there's usually a demand somewhere for them.

The most attractive thing for me is the chance to become a better pilot. The hours are a big plus and should help with the great job hunt when the time comes but some fine tuning of hand flying skill's and having some fun is what really interestes me. I'm not going to lie and say I want to be buzzing around in light twins for the rest of my career but I do like the idea of it for a few years. Spent all this money on training, may aswell enjoy the outcome!

Not sure if this helps your predicament mate but just know you're not alone!

FS :ok:

Some pros and cons to help decide:

Pros:
-another license or rating looks good on your cv and makes you more employable.
-the FI shows that you hit the books hard and worked hard to learn all aspects of flying, ie: dedication
-you can build time and have others pay the bill.
-you will learn plenty and it will make you a better pilot.


cons:
-the added expense as you mentioned.
-the low instructor wages to start with.
-not too many instructor jobs out there right now.

I instructed for years after not finding work post 9/11. I have no regrets however and gained valuable experience along the way.
I still instruct part-time to keep my FI current.

Good luck in whatever you chose.

very hard to get a job as a fi, and most school will ask you for 500h as a flight instructor (insurance requirement). and when economy will bounce back, you still need a type rating.

if i was you, i would save money for a rating in the future and see how things improve (if things improve). for now , do nothing until the governement help us.
except a crisis for 5 years.:{

Absolute nonsense. PPL level instructors all start from ab-initio - the 500 hour requirement is only to be approved for CPL instruction. Aircraft insurance policies almost all state "Any FI", with no hours requirement. That includes up to light twin level (our twins are insured for any pilot with more than 250h TT, ie not people with CPL/IR in minimum hours).

The FI rating and job is immensely satisfying - it hones your own skills to a level where you can demonstrate and teach in most conditions, and to almost all abilities of student. The first few years pay incredibly badly, especially bearing in mind the investment you've made, but for those who enjoy it then it's well worth it. I'm lucky enough to enjoy it!

Dont bother wasting your money its a crap situation to be in especially at the moment ,
Go back to whatever you worked at before and keep mailing the airlines or wait till the next up turn ,not only is there no FI jobs ,
But theres no students anymore to teach .
No hours ,No money :ugh:

Do yourself a favour and take good advice

At the school were i do part time FI work there are still jobs and students to the extent i can drop them an email 2 or 3 days before i want to go in and have a nearly full program.

good luck if you decide to do it, it will make you a better pilot

Just taking a guess at the future but I'd say that when the market does start to pick up then they'll be a sudden influx of people learning to fly who were putting it off before due to the market. Doesn't really help you for now but it all depends on your personal circumstances; doubt any low hour fATPL will be getting much other than FI for next couple of years so it depends on if you have a good day job to fall back on. If so maybe do the instructor course when theres signs of the market recovering.

guys

appreciate all your thought so far.. keep them coming.

I suppose in a sense i'm lucky enough to have job doing security at the moment. pays not great but long hours make up for it (this is the job that has actually paid for all of my training). starting off with a restricted FI Rating, i may have to instruct part time to make ends meet until i get onto the better pay rates teaching CPL etc.

I'll be speaking to my Flight school some time next week to find out the job prospects straight after the course.

Does anybody know roughly what the take home pay is in flight schools in the UK and abroad.

some scools pay a retainer for full time staff and hourly flight pay. Part timers only get flight pay. ny ideas what different scools pay per hour for restricted, unrestricted, PPl CPL ME and IR instructors?

Regards
MHN

The Glide - "But theres no students anymore to teach".....not sure which school's you've been into lately mate but the one's I've been into are still reasonably busy. Whether or not this is sustainable is another question but for the time being there still seems to be a steady influx of newbies.

Since I started training in early 2008 I've been suprised how many people don't have big loans but have got the money from either savings or have come from well off families.

There will undoubtedly be a drop in demand for training but many of those with the money already in hand are bound to take advantage of the more competitive training rates currently on offer.

FS :ok:

This is a forum and everyone is entitled to their opinion and to add my pennies worth, i think the F.I route is a good move. I have been toying with the idea for months and have decided to go for it, i have spent too much money getting to where i am to give up. I finished my training at the end of 2007 and aside from a couple of interviews that didn't happen for me (gutted) at the start of 2008, i have had nothing since. I am a tiny fish in a huge pond and no amount of determination is going to change that, except becoming a F.I and increasing my hours!
I trained at Oxford and they are churning them out like sausages, more low houred guys after more low houred guys coming onto this saturated market every month while the jobs are getting fewer and fewer. I'm being realistic to myself, i know that this is a very difficult industry and i knew that before i embarked on this road but i feel right now, while i'm competing with guys with a TR and a few thousand hours under their belt, i have absolutely no chance and i'm not going to kid myself that i do so right now becoming an F.I makes perfect sense. However with the economic climate the way it is and set to get worse, i understand that i'm going to be competing with this guys now for F.I positions as well!! Forever the optimist though:ok:

Instructor route is still a valid way to gain experience, build up hours, improve your flying skills, and meet useful contacts. All of which elevate your position in the pecking order to get that first airline job. The 1000hr + instructor is of interest to the turboprop company, who are on the lookout for quick command progression.

There are to many 230hr cpl/ir holders out there, all wondering why airlines are not beating a path to their door. Living in dreamland.

There are instructor jobs out there, the money is not great, you might have to do it part time to start with, the first few months can be odd, finding your feet and developing your instructional skills. If you have some personality, and motivation you can generate alot of your own work, build a portfolio of students, and actually be commercially useful to a school.

The instructor job is very much what you choose to make of it.

Yeah totally agree. I'm seriously thinking of going FI as soon as I finish.

To me the big advantages are: - Keeping current, building hours constructively, seriously honing the flying skill's, getting myself near the top of the pile when things pick up for a TP job, earning some (although little) money, having another string to the bow, make some new contacts, have some fun flying (Might be slightly morbid but stalls and PFL's are great fun to me!) :O

The downsides as I see them: - Naff money, more training expense, competitive job market (albeit nothing like the low hour FO job market!!! :ugh:)

The economic downturn has made me think about things a bit more.... Airline flying is what I aspire to but I'm determined to have some fun first with instructing/air taxi/bush flying/crop spraying....you get the idea. (Although thats not to say I'd turn down an airline job if one materialised....maybe the easter bunny will bring one this year!)

Guys,

Before you launch head first into an FI course...make sure the job prospects are there at the end of it. Today, I happened to see a fairly big FTO's bookings for next week - there's not 1 single booking in it! The current FI's at the club are having to look elsewhere for work(not necessarily flying related).

Best advice...phone around some of the clubs and get a feel for whats happening.

The FI rating is/has always been a great rating. Just make sure you get your moneys worth out of it!

Perhaps look at some of the parachute and gliding clubs around as an alternative for this summer - a good saeson could easily get a few hundred hours under the belt, without the 7 or 8k expense of an FI course.

Instructor salary
 

Hello folks - I'm justing coming to the end of an FI course... Any ideas what the average hourly rate is for a new full time instructor in the south?

No wonder you stopped!

Guess I'll be walking to the airport then.

Not sure about the above quote. It's unlikely any of the little people are going to get bailed out.

I finished flight training early last year and had a tough time looking for employment. If I were in your shoes (and this time last year I was... albeit a slightly better situation than present) - I would definitely look into the FI route.

chongololo has listed the pros and cons. Spot on IMO.

Go down the FI route, if for no other reason than to just prevent yourself getting rusty. Because your skills will corrode rapidly. Keep current, keep flying.

I'm sure you won't get paid much. And I'm sure it'll cost a few quid to get the rating as well. I expect you'll probably need another job just to make ends meet - but you'll need to be fresh and current when recruitment starts again and this is probably the best way of doing just that.

All the best.

Guys

Once again thanks for all your thoughts.

Spoke to my Flight School regarding the FI Rating today. They are fully booked until April so I'll have to wait until then to start. Loads of people are showing interest in the course and most, if not all, are in the same position as me.

As standard policy in my school, they prefer to employ instructors that they have taught (to keep a sense of standardisation he says), this is slight good news for me, because i'll have a good chance of actually getting a job with them whether its part time or full time. Also spoke to a friend in the middle east and seems the job prospects for FI's is good up there. Car, Apartment and $3000 per month.

I suppose I'm almost convinced this is the ''wisest'' move in these troubled times and i'm going to book myself in for the course, I've got a couple of months before i start unless something else comes along in the meantime.

Regards
MHN