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7 Answers

How to best handle CFI tacking on ground instruction to total time.

Asked by: 3666 views ,
Flight Instructor

I have had a young CFI recently tacking on 0.5 ground to our total flight time, mostly for company checkouts of various aircraft. I understand that ground instruction is valuable and should be compensated, but in the 20+ years that I've been flying, I usually only get charged for ground instruction if its a planned and substantive session. In the last situation it was a checkout for a 172, I had already had two successful aircraft checkouts for different aircraft with the same instructor, the FBO blocked me in for 2 hours as is often done for a minimum block. I arrived, got the book, and went to start the pre-flight, the CFI joined me half way through the pre-flight and helped me with it, then we got in and flew for 1.2, landed, secured the airplane, walked back to office, and I gave the front desk person the book and said the total time was 1.2 hrs, and my CFR added "plus .5 ground."  My initial thought was, "for what?" But, I didn't say anything at the time, but after thinking about it, I came to the same conclusion, what was that .5 ground for? The checkout was very routine given that we had done two other checkouts in different aircraft in the previous month. 

To all of you CFIs out there, I'd like to hear your take on this. When do you feel its appropriate to charge for ground instruction? Do you charge for it on every flight? If this isn't appropriate, what is the best way to respectfully address this with the CFI? 

UPDATE: All of the answers were helpful.  I agree ground instruction is valuable and should be compensated, thats why I stated so in my original question. The key to this situation is clear communication between CFI and student in order to set appropriate expectations. 

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7 Answers



  1. Jeff on Jul 21, 2017

    I charge for for flight and ground. My time is valuable. Now I don’t track it by the minute, so if we have a five minute conversation I’m not going to charge you. But if, for example, we’re about to have a lesson on slow flight, stalls, and spin awareness, and we spend 30 minutes before the flight talking about it, I’m going to charge for that time. No one has ever questioned this or thought it strange.

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  2. Jeff on Jul 21, 2017

    Adding some supplementary detail to my above response – In the case you describe, if the flight instructor was there and helping with the pre-flight, maybe asking or answering questions, then I think it’s fair to charge for that time. Consider this – you scheduled his time and he has made himself available to you. As his time is valuable, he is entitled to be compensated for the time he is devoting to you, regardless if it’s flying or ground.

    Generally speaking, if a student has scheduled a two-hour lesson, then they are going to get charged for two hours of my time, whether it’s on the ground or in the air. That means, for example, if you schedule a two-hour lesson starting at 10:00 am, and you spend the first 30 minutes of the lesson doing the pre-flight, I’m going to charge you to have me watch you do the pre-flight. If you don’t want to get charged for that, arrive 30 minutes early and do the pre-flight before we start the lesson. Had I known you were going to take the first 30 minutes of the lesson to do the pre-flight, I could have scheduled another paying customer during that time.

    I love flying, and I especially love teaching others to fly, but I’m also not a charity. Flight instructors aren’t getting rich teaching people, and my time is valuable. If you ask for my time, expect to be charged for it.

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  3. R. Anderson on Jul 21, 2017

    I agree with Jeff above. If you are only receiving compensation when the hobbs meter is running, it discounts the time you are actually spending as a CFI with the student. Typically there is at least 30 mins of interaction with the student using skill and knowledge as a CFI that does not involve flying.

    Lastly, I can’t imagine that a checkout in a new aircraft would not include some discussion/instruction prior to the flight warranting at least 30 mins.

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  4. RickS on Jul 21, 2017

    I’m a bit confused as to the original question. Are you being charged and extra .5 for the airplane rental? If that’s the case, I’d say no way. But if the add’l .5 is just the instructor’s time, I think that’s fair if he’s actually showing you something or discussing things about the airplane or operations.

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  5. Russ Roslewski on Jul 22, 2017

    Just to add to the resounding chorus of similar answers:

    The hours I bill have no relation to the time spent in the airplane. That’s used for the logbook entry, sure, but my bill is essentially from handshake to handshake. Oh, sure, there’s some slop in there that I won’t count, and I generally round down, but pretty much if I’m there for 2 hours or 2.5 hours or 1.7 hours or whatever, then that’s what I charge for, regardless of how long the airplane engine was running.

    Never have had any problems or complaints. My clients all seem to understand that my time, like theirs, is valuable.

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  6. Best Answer


    John D Collins on Jul 22, 2017

    I charge for my time as measured by my watch or I have a flat rate for a day. It does not matter what I do during the time. I explain my billing method before I am engaged for instruction. Don’t want to pay for my time, that’s OK, just don’t engage me for instruction.

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  7. Mark Kolber on Jul 28, 2017

    As others, and especially since I teach in owner aircraft, I charge for my time, regardless of ground or flight. I have a number of methods, two of which are very similar to John’.;

    One is block time. That might be a day rate or it might be something less. As an example, a typical flight lesson is about 1.2 hours flight time. I charge for 2.0 of my time. With very little experience, I’ve found that it’s the student that tends to benefit from it. I typically don’t place lessons back to back so our ground time us usually more than that and I follow up with additional information and questions in off-hours by email without any additional charge, so it’s a package.

    The other is “handshake to handshake” on my watch.

    This third is for the pilots who insist I use Hobbs time because all the others they dealt with use it. Not a problem, happy to oblige. Of course, my hourly rate is higher to incorporate a favorable (to me ;)) ground component.

    My real point is, in all three cases, I explain what I am doing to the pilot in advance and the pilot has options. I don’t think any method of charging is “unfair” so long as it is understood and agreed to in advance.

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