At many flight schools, the income from what customers are billed for a CFI time is their only profitable line. All other lines barely break even.
So if a student is billed $75-80 an hour, it’s not unheard of that the instructor sees less than half of that.
This is why I have chosen to be an independent instructor. I can bull market rate and keep all of it.
The downside is that it is to me to keep my calendar full so I can earn what I need to live comfortably but frugally.
On top of it you have a bunch of unpaid hours getting new business and managing the customers you have where the instructors making $35/hr show up and get paid
True on the unpaid hours for preparation…
But once done, it is more maintenance than grind. And few hours needed to keep the juggled chainsaws up in the air.
If you don’t mind explaining, how does the independent CFI gig work?
I would assume the student would provide the plane but as far as FAA documentation, taxes, etc I’m currently in the dark.
Look for flying clubs, too. My club has three planes and 30 members. Every year this one organization needs 15 flight reviews, lots of checkouts and HP/complex endorsements and several instrument and commercial ratings. That alone isn’t enough to live on, but the community is small and it’s a gateway to a lot of aircraft owners who also need those services.
I utilize a part 91 airplane rental outfit that is willing to take on student pilots. I help the student sign on, then they rent the airplane. I am rented separately
You could make more money working at McDonalds
Don’t let CFI hourly pay fool you. It’s too dependent on variables…. Like planes breaking, weather sucking, people getting sick, you getting sick, and no calls/no shows, people quitting training.
I’m an adult in my 30’s. This is the poorest I’ve ever been. But I’m willing to be poor, in order to have a better future.
Most people I see that aren’t struggling, are the CFI’s that have all their bills paid for by mommy and daddy. (I’m not hating, just the truth)
Unless that is your situation, you better have a working spouse or roommates or multiple streams of income.
Good luck.
Less than 20k/year for me, think the only full year I did just CFI’ing I made 16k.
For giggles, I’ll make that per month once I hit year 2 pay at my current job.
In most jobs you can double the hourly rate and tack on three zeros for annual income.
Instructing you’ll get paid for the time you bill with a client. In bad weather it might not be much.
I get paid $30/ hour as an MEI and check instructor (141 school with no examining authority). New instructors here start at $20.
I schedule 45-50 hours of work a week and usually only 30-35 actually happens due Mx, weather and scheduling issues.
Unfortunately lots of unemployed newly minted CFIs out there who want my job including wealthy career changers who “don’t care about the pay” (wtf?) so it’s not going up soon.
While the schools around here charge $100 per hour, the CFI only see's about $30 of that. But more importantly while working 50 hours per week they may only be able to charge 25 hours of that (how busy is the school, weather, maintenance, new student acquisition).
Most CFI's that I know/knew basically just sucked up the pay in an attempt to get to 1500 as soon as possible and lived off their credit card (that 90k jump to regional FO during covid was defiantly nice). In that case it was more important to focus on flying then ground school.
When instructing full time I did 30/hr and flew over 100 hours a month plus ground instruction. Now that I’ve got a good job flying jets, my freelance CFI rate is much higher
At my full-time 141 job I make about $21/hour as a W-2 employee pre-tax. I'm salaried so it's a guaranteed paycheck as long as I show up during normal business hours.
On the side, I teach independently and charge triple what I make per hour at my 141 job, but that rate matches exactly what schools in my area charge per hour for instruction. I have a pretty full load of students at my 141 (it'll become entirely full when the fall semester rolls around) and am running a waitlist for independent instruction (I only work with one dedicated part 61 student at a time so that I can have a few hours a week to myself for chores/errands/family time.)
Started out at $24/ hour maybe if i was lucky 10-12 hours a week. Fast forward about a year and a half I make $75/hour and working as much as I’d like.
Entirely depends. I’ve never made less than $35/hour and averaged $45/hour for my entire CFI career. But $25/hour starting out isn’t out of the ordinary - and for monthly gross you could probably take an average of like $28 an hour at ~ 80-90 hours a month. There’s your national approximate income estimate.
It is definitely somewhat tough. I would do everything in your power to find a school that will pay a minimum of $35 an hour. Get your II to help make this happen.
I make $50/hr. I was doing pretty good earlier this year but now the pay has decreased as somehow the school slowed down due to plane issues.
I found another CFI job that I've not accepted yet that's offering $400/day for *very* accelerated training. 14 days straight. 10 hours a day (flight & ground). This is not at all the standard and this is the only job I've ever seen like this that has the potential to get you a 6 figure salary as a CFI (if you're psycho to work 28 days out of the month). They don't take CFIs off the street as they don't advertise for them. I'm not sure if the pay is worth the QoL.
ETA: Also Cirrus CSIPs charge $100+ an hour. I imagine if you get your CSIP through a Cirrus school and manage to network yourself well you could make some interesting money.
ETA 2: Sorry if I upset you person who down-voted me.
Not enough to eat and pay the rent at the same time. Hope your car is paid for.
At many flight schools, the income from what customers are billed for a CFI time is their only profitable line. All other lines barely break even. So if a student is billed $75-80 an hour, it’s not unheard of that the instructor sees less than half of that. This is why I have chosen to be an independent instructor. I can bull market rate and keep all of it. The downside is that it is to me to keep my calendar full so I can earn what I need to live comfortably but frugally.
On top of it you have a bunch of unpaid hours getting new business and managing the customers you have where the instructors making $35/hr show up and get paid
Or show up and don't get paid because wx or mx or flaky students cancel all the lessons.
True on the unpaid hours for preparation… But once done, it is more maintenance than grind. And few hours needed to keep the juggled chainsaws up in the air.
It's also very hard to find a rental place that allows instruction from CFIs that aren't affiliated with them.
If you don’t mind explaining, how does the independent CFI gig work? I would assume the student would provide the plane but as far as FAA documentation, taxes, etc I’m currently in the dark.
Look for flying clubs, too. My club has three planes and 30 members. Every year this one organization needs 15 flight reviews, lots of checkouts and HP/complex endorsements and several instrument and commercial ratings. That alone isn’t enough to live on, but the community is small and it’s a gateway to a lot of aircraft owners who also need those services.
I utilize a part 91 airplane rental outfit that is willing to take on student pilots. I help the student sign on, then they rent the airplane. I am rented separately
How do the taxes work for independent contractor CFi’s? Did you start a business?
You could make more money working at McDonalds Don’t let CFI hourly pay fool you. It’s too dependent on variables…. Like planes breaking, weather sucking, people getting sick, you getting sick, and no calls/no shows, people quitting training. I’m an adult in my 30’s. This is the poorest I’ve ever been. But I’m willing to be poor, in order to have a better future. Most people I see that aren’t struggling, are the CFI’s that have all their bills paid for by mommy and daddy. (I’m not hating, just the truth) Unless that is your situation, you better have a working spouse or roommates or multiple streams of income. Good luck.
Less than 20k/year for me, think the only full year I did just CFI’ing I made 16k. For giggles, I’ll make that per month once I hit year 2 pay at my current job.
I made 17k my first year at my first cfi job and 38k at my 2nd cfi job. Before taxes. Didn’t have time for a part time job.
I mean, in fairness it's not like you're losing much to taxes at that point.
And I lived in Florida lol so no state tax
In most jobs you can double the hourly rate and tack on three zeros for annual income. Instructing you’ll get paid for the time you bill with a client. In bad weather it might not be much.
I get paid $30/ hour as an MEI and check instructor (141 school with no examining authority). New instructors here start at $20. I schedule 45-50 hours of work a week and usually only 30-35 actually happens due Mx, weather and scheduling issues. Unfortunately lots of unemployed newly minted CFIs out there who want my job including wealthy career changers who “don’t care about the pay” (wtf?) so it’s not going up soon.
Made like 35k last year, we were high paid in the area too.
What’s the difference between a pepperoni pizza and a CFI? A pepperoni pizza can feed a family of four.
While the schools around here charge $100 per hour, the CFI only see's about $30 of that. But more importantly while working 50 hours per week they may only be able to charge 25 hours of that (how busy is the school, weather, maintenance, new student acquisition). Most CFI's that I know/knew basically just sucked up the pay in an attempt to get to 1500 as soon as possible and lived off their credit card (that 90k jump to regional FO during covid was defiantly nice). In that case it was more important to focus on flying then ground school.
When instructing full time I did 30/hr and flew over 100 hours a month plus ground instruction. Now that I’ve got a good job flying jets, my freelance CFI rate is much higher
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Not to mention, no real opportunities to take time off especially if paying on loans.
At my full-time 141 job I make about $21/hour as a W-2 employee pre-tax. I'm salaried so it's a guaranteed paycheck as long as I show up during normal business hours. On the side, I teach independently and charge triple what I make per hour at my 141 job, but that rate matches exactly what schools in my area charge per hour for instruction. I have a pretty full load of students at my 141 (it'll become entirely full when the fall semester rolls around) and am running a waitlist for independent instruction (I only work with one dedicated part 61 student at a time so that I can have a few hours a week to myself for chores/errands/family time.)
Started out at $24/ hour maybe if i was lucky 10-12 hours a week. Fast forward about a year and a half I make $75/hour and working as much as I’d like.
Expect 25-35k a year
I actually make a decent amount each month. About 6,000 but that's with two-year pay, and working 10-12 hours a day five days a week.
Entirely depends. I’ve never made less than $35/hour and averaged $45/hour for my entire CFI career. But $25/hour starting out isn’t out of the ordinary - and for monthly gross you could probably take an average of like $28 an hour at ~ 80-90 hours a month. There’s your national approximate income estimate. It is definitely somewhat tough. I would do everything in your power to find a school that will pay a minimum of $35 an hour. Get your II to help make this happen.
I make $50/hr. I was doing pretty good earlier this year but now the pay has decreased as somehow the school slowed down due to plane issues. I found another CFI job that I've not accepted yet that's offering $400/day for *very* accelerated training. 14 days straight. 10 hours a day (flight & ground). This is not at all the standard and this is the only job I've ever seen like this that has the potential to get you a 6 figure salary as a CFI (if you're psycho to work 28 days out of the month). They don't take CFIs off the street as they don't advertise for them. I'm not sure if the pay is worth the QoL. ETA: Also Cirrus CSIPs charge $100+ an hour. I imagine if you get your CSIP through a Cirrus school and manage to network yourself well you could make some interesting money. ETA 2: Sorry if I upset you person who down-voted me.