Top 10 Benefits of Becoming a Flight Instructor
Learning a skill often involves the guidance of a teacher who’s an expert on the subject. What if you were that expert? What advantages could a position in such a well-respected role bring you? Let’s take a look at the top 10 benefits of becoming a flight instructor.
1. Getting Paid to Fly
Wouldn’t it be great to fuel your passion and get paid? Becoming a flight instructor is your window of opportunity. You already love to fly, so you might as well be compensated for it! Just like with any job, as you gain experience in this role, your pay will reflect that.
2. Becoming a Better Pilot
Pilots are constantly learning and expanding on their skill. While you teach, you’re helping students reach their goals while simultaneously strengthening your own abilities as well – a win-win! Training students allows you to stay sharp and even acknowledge areas you may need to improve on as well. You’ll learn from each other as you go along and grow to be well-rounded pilots because of it.
3. Building Hours Faster
Did you know becoming a flight instructor is the quickest way to gain flight hours? Before you know it, you’ll meet the 1,500-hour benchmark to join the airlines if that’s your end goal. If you don’t plan on being an airline pilot, however, instructing others to fly is still an incredible career on its own.
4. Great Work/Life Balance
If you love flying, but haven’t quite caught the travel bug, don’t fret. As a flight instructor, you’ll typically have a consistent schedule. This means you’re able to go home each night after the workday is over. Plus, you won’t have to spend long periods of time away from family and friends, nor worry about jet lag.
5. Teaching Others is Rewarding
Imparting your knowledge onto another individual can be demanding, but the work pays off when you see your student grasp a concept they found challenging. You may even be able to relate, share what you did to overcome that area of struggle and help motivate them to do the same.
6. Each Day is Never the Same
Becoming a flight instructor can be a great route if having a routine sounds dull to you. Every student you educate is different in the way they learn best. You’ll be teaching a variety of concepts and have a unique experience with each student you train. You’ll tackle new challenges daily from start to finish.
7. Plenty of Work to Be Found
Pilots are in high demand. As a result, the need for flight instructors is growing considerably as well. If you’re looking for a place to work, there’s plenty of opportunity available to you. Whether you choose to go to a flight school or be your own boss, you won’t be short on students to educate.
8. Developing Your Soft Skills
Your soft skills, such as your problem-solving skills, social capacity, work ethic and demeanor, truly blossom as a flight instructor. In this role, you’ll benefit from your ability to construct relationships and work diligently with others. You’ll collaborate with students from all sorts of different backgrounds and learn to tailor your teaching methods as you move forward.
Aside from that, teamwork is a crucial skill for your job. Everyone, including CFIs, students, dispatchers and ATC, cooperates to ensure the safety and success of everyone. If your end goal is to fly for an airline, you’ll collaborate with your flight crew there as well. Soft skills are admirable and can be applied in any job.
9. Boosting Your Resume
If you want to stand out from the crowd, listing “Flight Instructor” on your resume can push you in the right direction and make you a higher quality applicant. This shows your potential employer your skill level and your ability to work with others.
If you’d like to transition to the airlines, they also have check airmen and instructors on staff. Having a background in teaching could make you more valuable to them, should there be openings in those positions in the future. Captains also mentor and work with first officers new to the crew, so having that experience and knowing how different people learn, as mentioned previously, would help shape you into a better captain as well.
Teaching is another excellent skill and is something you can always take with you, no matter where your aviation career goes.
10. Meeting New People
Becoming a flight instructor means being around new students and new instructors constantly. If you find yourself getting nervous around people you’ve never met, you’ll soon turn into a social butterfly. Aviators enjoy sharing their adventures, so just keep the pilot talk going, and you’ll fit right in.
Flight schools bring together individuals from all across the globe. If it weren’t for your career as a flight instructor, more than likely, you never would’ve encountered these fellow sky-lovers. Meeting others allows you to open your mind to new cultures, backgrounds, ideas and experiences, aiding in your personal and professional growth.
Graduates of AeroGuard’s Pilot Pathway Program receive a guaranteed interview for a flight instructor position with our team. If you’re interested in starting your flight training journey and becoming a flight instructor with AeroGuard, contact us today!