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Earning a living as a CFI

Asked by: 3825 views General Aviation

Hey guys, I'm new here but I've come to the site a few times to get answers on questions I've had in the past. One question I haven't been able to find the answer to is how much a typical instructor can earn. I realize this depends on the location, weather, the school and how many students you have. But I was hoping some of you here may have some input.

I am asking because I am working on becoming an instructor and I am starting to get a little nervous about being able to earn a living. I live in Michigan so the weather is questionable most of the time from November through April. My previous instructors would complain that they couldn't earn enough to survive, which led some of them to getting second jobs. 

But I've heard other stories that instructors in the southwest part of the country are able to earn $50,000 per year since you can fly year round. And the DPE I'm currently working with for my CFI told me his last year as an instructor he earned $80,000 somewhere in the Midwest. I'm not saying he's lying but I find it pretty hard to believe someone could earn that good of money instructing. Maybe it's possible I guess if he was also a DPE at that time and he was charging pretty high hourly rates. 

So anyway that's why I'm asking, I'm getting conflicting stories. In michigan it sounds like you'd be lucky to earn $20,000 per year, but apparently if you live where you can fly year round you can make anywhere between $50,000 -$80,000.

Hope this doesn't come off as being nosey, like I'm asking how much you all earn a year, just hoping to get a little guidance on where I should go after it get my CFI. I figure theres gotta be some people here that could give me personal opinions on their experience or even that of instructors they've worked with in the past. 

Thanks

Don

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2 Answers



  1. Aaron on May 21, 2014

    Just for comparison, CFIs at my school (141) make $40/hr, unless they’re instructing private pilot candidates, then it’s $35/hr. That’s pretty decent money, and your figures aren’t too far off. If you consider the 8 hr/ day limit, that’s $280/day. That’s $72,800 a year, and thats if you time out every day for a 5 day work week. more realistically, youre right in the range you mentioned. I’m on the Denver metro area of Colorado, so as you mentioned, it’s all about where you’re at. Sounds like you did your research, and I’m adding a big +1 to that research.

    Kinda better than the $22,000 per year FO’s at the regional airline I work the ramp for make right now 😉

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  2. Tom on May 22, 2014

    Also take into consideration, or a day when you can get 8 hours of flying. You might have to be at the airport for a 12 hour day. It is tough. It’s not fun not having a garunteed pay check every week.

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