CFI for Life

Just read the article in AOPA Training magazine (December 2007) about a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) who has been instructing for a long time. I admire this guy who has made a commitment to doing the same thing for a long time, a rare condition in today's world of fast change. It seems he had another career, then during his retirement took up instructing full time.

When I was instructing (for four years) there were very few instructors who had instructed as long as I had. I think the average for the schools I worked in was about 12 months. When I left, the most senior instructor had about 300 hours of instructing experience.

When I started instructing, I really thought that I might choose instructing for a career. I enjoyed the challenge of teaching people how to fly airplanes, and found great satisfaction in the profession. But soon, I started encountering the frustrations of the job including exceedingly low pay, high risk/stress, lack of reliable income, aging equipment, reduction in training finance options, increasing insurance costs, hostile public and a political environment seemingly bent on killing general aviation. I could see that the future of general aviation was headed downhill as fewer and fewer people could afford the training.

Possibly, when I've spent my productive years earning required resources, I might be able to pick up the profession again. I hope that there will still be a market for flight instructing (outside of the airlines) in the future, and that people will be able to afford this awesome opportunity, but I have my doubts. I applaud those who are willing to stick it out in a faltering industry.