CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 14 Issue 1 - 22

NEW CFI
Airline pilots must take a stringent medical exam every six months. Flunk
it, and you are unemployed. You can professionally flight instruct with a
third-class medical, basic med, or no medical at all.
If you currently enjoy the variety of flying different kinds of aircraft with
your students to help them get a variety of ratings, you should consider
that in the airline world you are limited to one aircraft and one seat in that
aircraft-sometimes for years at a time.
The airline piloting life can appear glamorous. But here's the reality. Ninetyfive
percent of your flying will not be to tropical island destinations. It will be
late and sometimes all-night flights to places like Little Rock and Newark.
At least one-third of your life will be spent in the cheapest layover motel
your company can find. You will be chronically tired, and your career will be
in jeopardy once a year during your proficiency check and again when you
take your unannounced once-a-year in-flight line check.
As an airline pilot, you will be away from home a lot. You will miss
birthdays, anniversaries, and perhaps even the birth of your children. You
can expect to be away from home for at least one-third of major holidays and
events during your career.
Georgia Carolina Air Inc Chief Pilot Michael Leighton is an excellent
example of what life can be for an experienced instructor who chooses a life
of teaching over a life of cruising the skies on autopilot. Here is why he opted
to forgo an airline piloting life.
" I passed on the airlines. I fly some Part 135, but mainly as a check airman
and Part 135.340 instructor. I have been a full-time flight instructor since
1988 and it hasn't gotten old yet.
" Some may look at flight instruction only as a route to an airline career.
For me, flight instruction was my professional destination, and I wouldn't
change a thing.
" I have made a great living doing it. I flew a little over seven hundred hours
last year and made more than one hundred thousand dollars. I net more
money because I own my airplanes and concentrate on making this a fulltime
profession.
THE MARKET FOR SENIOR INSTRUCTORS IS HOT RIGHT NOW, AND IT
ISN'T UNREASONABLE TO SEE MORE THAN ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND
DOLLARS WITH BENEFITS FOR SOME OF THOSE POSITIONS.
" The key to making a good living instructing is teaching many different
things. I teach tailwheel, upset prevention and recovery training (UPRT),
turbine transition, private, instrument, commercial, and multiengine.
Recently, I've done a lot of insurance required initial and recurrent training
in aircraft like a P-210, Cessna 300/400 series twins, King Airs, PC-12s,
Conquests, and many other types.
" I love my job. I would not trade my job for an airline career. Seeing a young
person you taught to fly years ago become a captain on the airline gives you
a tremendous feeling of accomplishment.
" When the doctor, lawyer, or another person you taught to fly texts you on
a Sunday morning after a challenging IFR flight with their family to thank
you for the realistic training, you know you made a difference and kept his
loved ones safe.
CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 14 Issue 1

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of CFI-to-CFI Newsletter - Volume 14 Issue 1
