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5 Answers

Fired from a CFI job

Asked by: 2453 views FAA Regulations, Flight Instructor

Asking for a friend:  

  1. What if someone is fired from a flight school as an instructor for not signing a student off for a check ride who you know is not ready?  Is there any action you can take with the FAA to have that investigated? 

     2. What repercussions will this have on future career?  Will the major airlines see this as a "black mark" in your career?

 

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5 Answers



  1. Kris Kortokrax on Nov 15, 2019

    Tell your “friend” that he did the right thing. If he signed an endorsement stating that the student was prepared to pass the practical test and he that was not the case, he would be in violation of 61.59(a)(1) & (2), falsification.

    Flight schools don’t contribute records to the database of records that air carriers check when hiring. Even if they did, what airline would think it is a bad thing for a pilot to adhere to the regulations?

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  2. Max Trescott on Nov 15, 2019

    Fortunately, there’s strong demand for CFIs and for airline pilots. Tell your friend that he showed the kind of integrity any airline would like to see in its pilots. If I were a hiring manager and I heard that story, it would make me more inclined to hire the person! Your friend should have little problem finding another CFI job, and hopefully for a flight school with higher standards.

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  3. KDS on Nov 15, 2019

    I will give you a real life example. Read this:

    https://www.ntsb.gov/_layouts/ntsb.aviation/brief2.aspx?ev_id=20040920X01462&ntsbno=CHI04FA257&akey=1

    The CFI was pressured into signing the student off for their practical test by the owner of the flight school. Four people died.

    I will never be fired from a flight school for refusing to sign off a student. If the owner tried to pressure me into signing off a student, I would quit long before they could fire me. If that is their moral and ethical standard, it is not the kind of school I would have anything to do with, not even flying one of their airplanes.

    Yes, there is an action you can take with the FAA, but how effective it would be is highly dependent upon the FAA management in that area. You could write a letter to the FAA and it would be called a \”Public Complaint\”. The best anyone could hope for is that the POI for the school would put the school on notice that they have a complaint and will be watching.

    No responsible aviation professional would see that as a \”black mark\”. It is more akin to receiving an award for having high standards.

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  4. JCBaum on Nov 27, 2019

    In addition to the previous comments for your “friend”, one of the typical line of questions asked during an airline interview is along the lines of, “So, tell us of a time when you were asked to do something which you felt was wrong/incorrect. How did you handle that problem? What was the outcome? What would you have done differently?” At least your friend won’t have to dig very far to have a “story”.

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  5. Gary S. on Dec 02, 2019

    Two thumbs up for these first 4 answers! I agree 100%.

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