Read more…United
United said it also plans to offer financing options to help new pilots afford initial training. The airline said it was working with financial institutions “with the goal of making attractive financing terms – such as industry-tailored grace periods and competitive interest rates – available to qualified individuals.” An airline said that the United flight academy program would also help increase diversity within its pilot corps.
The airline expects to graduate 300 students per year to start, with plans to grow to 500 within a few years.
Hot on the heels of a deal with United Airlines, ATP Flight School announced an enhanced partnership with regional air carrier SkyWest Airlines. The updated agreement calls for increased tuition reimbursement up to $17,500 for pilots training with ATP.
Read more…CFI Pay
Of all 289 CFIs, 62 (21%) said they were not satisfied with their pay, which averaged $59.37 per hour. Another 96 (33%) said they were “somewhat” satisfied with their pay, which averaged $59.61 per hour. But the plurality of 131 CFIs (45%) said yes, they were perfectly happy with their pay as CFIs, averaging $59.77.
Experience helps, with 10-year veteran CFIs averaging $58.50 per hour. CFIs with 20 or more years of instructional experience fell in the middle of the pay brackets at $56.86 an hour, while five-year veterans reported making $53.18. CFIs with two years of experience averaged $66.07 in pay, while those with one year or less experience reported an average of $58.43.
CFIs saying they see themselves as a career flight instructors totaled 190 of the 289 total (65%), with 110 (38%) saying they also planned to move into a corporate or airline pilot job while maintaining their CFI credentials.
Encouragingly, fewer than one-third of the instructors (31%) who completed the survey indicated they were just passing through the instructional world on their way to the airlines
Johnson is a CFI in Missouri who specializes in taildragger familiarization and transition, STOL, off-airport, and advanced flying techniques, He also hosts a podcast called “The Not So Straight And Level Podcast,” which focuses on recreational flying and runs several aviation websites.
Read more…SAFE CFI-PRO™
The first SAFE workshop, last October, received glowing accolades from the 38 CFI attendees, including three almost-CFIs.
Scheduled for the Sporty’s workshop are six nationally known CFIs and FAA DPEs, led by ‘Spin Doctor’ Rich Stowell who will present flight control fundamentals to help CFIs better understand and teach basic aerodynamics. Pilots unfamiliar or unskilled with basic aerodynamics cause just under half of each year’s aviation fatalities in Loss Of Control – Inflight (LOC-I) crashes.
The two-day workshop series is essential to help new CFIs go from “just good enough to great,” in the words of SAFE Executive Director David St. George. He added that while SAFE CFI-PROtm is most beneficial for newer instructors, it is also an opportunity for veteran CFIs to refresh their knowledge and passion, network with industry leaders and learn the newest flight instruction techniques.