Careers

"Hello, this is HR."

"Hi. I'm phoning about an ad that I saw recently soliciting applications for flight instructors."

"Yes. That is correct. Frankly, we have so many flight students here and not enough CFIs to train them."

This is a transcript of a recent conversation. The comment by the human resources representative at this suburban Chicago aviation college is indicative of a trend developing on the nation's aviation campuses. CFIs are in demand in academia, and they are becoming increasingly difficult to recruit.

According to the University Aviation Association (UAA), more than 200 colleges and universities offer aviation curricula. Although not every school on the UAA roster offers flight programs-some provide maintenance, engineering, or management courses only-recent estimates show that there are close to 20,000 students enrolled in degreed flight training programs across the land. These range from small schools such as Dixie College in St. George, Utah, and Hesston College in Hesston, Kansas, to the "Big Kahuna" schools like Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and University of North Dakota.

Traditionally, aviation colleges have hired their brightest graduates as CFIs. These high achievers typically join a staff comprising both career instructional faculty and other graduates from the institution. At most flight campuses, the CFI staff is a blend of seasoned professionals and novice trainers.

Historically, CFI slots available to graduating seniors were relatively few and quite competitive. Those who were fortunate enough to be hired accumulated their first 500 to 1,000 hours of flight time, including prized multiengine experience, at their alma mater before progressing up the career ladder a year or two later. The others? Well, they were compelled to fend for themselves at FBOs and flight schools scattered across the landscape.

So, where have all the collegiate flight instructors gone? The regional airlines are snapping up droves of young CFIs from these academic institutions. The need for personnel to man the cockpits of commuter Beech 1900s, Brasilias, and Jetstreams is so great that CFIs are being plucked from their schools with hundreds of hours of flight time rather than the 1,000 or more that were required in the recent past.

The need for full-time, seasoned instructor talent is echoed by University of Illinois' Tom Emanuel, who is assistant director of academic affairs and deeply involved in the direction of the school's aviation program. "Although we do have a core of long-term professional flight instructors on staff whose tenure with the school varies from 10 up to 29 years, about half of our team is made up of fairly recent graduates. It is that younger segment of the staff that is unusually fluid in light of today's robust hiring climate. The mature side of the faculty finds instructing in airplanes instead of or in addition to teaching in a classroom setting to be professionally and personally fulfilling. These veterans are beneficiaries of a stable lifestyle as well as attractive wages and a full benefits package, including a tuition fee waiver, health and life insurance, and a retirement program."

Emanuel says further, "We are very interested in searching the industry for individuals who look at teaching as a goal and not merely a method to build time and move on. As such, we have hired former military and airline pilots as well as late-lifers looking for a meaningful way to spend their remaining productive years. Bear in mind that our instructors work normally a nine-month contract at a salary of approximately $19,000 to $24,000 and up, depending on experience level. Thus, our instructors enjoy considerable time off during the summer season to pursue other professional or leisure activities."

From Emanuel's perspective, the need for CFIs is universal. "For the first time in the last 30 years that I can recall, people are receiving unsolicited offers to become flight instructors at institutions of higher learning. I've recently discovered that some schools have sent mass mailings to CFIs gleaned from various FAA and proprietary databases. I myself just received such an invitation to become a simulator instructor at a college for a starting salary of $30,000 annually: A medical is not required!"

Pat Sickles, chief instructor and a career CFI at Aims Community College in Greeley, Colorado, has similar observations about the draining of the college-level instructor pool by the rest of the industry. "We have approximately 110 students in our flight program and 11 instructors. Of those, we have only two who are qualified to train initial CFI candidates. It is our experience that, once a graduate of our program is hired, he or she will spend only about eight months as a line instructor before moving onward and upward. Consequently, we are missing a corps of instructors who can train instructors."

Sickles continues, "There is an absolute need for trainers with a little more depth and experience than what our graduates bring to the cockpit. There is a need for individuals who appreciate the rewards of teaching and who desire to share the love of flying on a long-term basis. These can be ex-freighter pilots like myself, former air carrier instructors, or even retired schoolteachers who now want to mix their affection for flight with their classroom expertise. Don't misunderstand me. Our young CFIs are fabulous and do a fine job. However, we would certainly welcome to our faculty a few instructors who have, shall I say, 'been around the block' a few times."

Speaking of the difficulty of recruiting seasoned flight instructors, Sickles says, "Just today we are interviewing for a ground instructor coordinator. We advertised for two weeks and garnered just three applicants. Yes, I'd say that there is both a need for and a shortage of quality instructor personnel."

Although individual colleges and universities may have unique hiring prerequisites, the job description from Lewis University details the job functions and hiring criteria that typify the requirements of aviation departments.

Most Common Duties

• Teach individual flight lessons exactly as indicated in the appropriate FAA-approved flight course.
• Teach aviation ground school.
• Write and revise syllabi as required.
• Act as "instructor on duty" as needed.
• Attend CFI/ground instructor meetings.
• Perform other duties as required by chief of pilot training or designated representative.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor of science degree with at least 500 hours of flight time, including:
• CFI-A: 100 hours (FAR 141 school experience preferred)
• CFI-I: 50 hours
• Must be able to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing.
• Must possess manual dexterity.
• Must be able to critically analyze flight student weaknesses and make recommendations for improvement.
• Must be self-motivated and able to delegate. Work involves evening and weekend hours.

Certificates And Ratings

• Commercial Instrument
• Airplane Single- and Multiengine Land
• CFI-Airplanes
• CFI-Instrument
• CFI-Multiengine (preferred)

Those who are currently career CFIs in the academic environment no doubt have pure and altruistic motives. However, to bypass a flying career piloting one of those Boeings or bizjets? Can career instructing be that good?

Tom Grossman is the thirty-something flight coordinator at Western Michigan University and guides the flight training activities of 21 domestic instructors and more than 500 flight students. This is in addition to the university's ab initio program serving international airlines with a separate, dedicated CFI staff of 18.

Grossman's teaching career began in the early 1980s when, as a graduate of Kent State University's flight program, he was faced with this reality: Almost nobody was hiring pilots. Thus, he took a job as an hourly flight instructor. Although he toyed briefly with the idea of becoming an air traffic controller, he passed up that opportunity to continue teaching. Ultimately, he worked his way into a position as chief instructor and manager of flight at Kent.

By 1998, with more than 4,000 hours and mega multiengine time, Grossman was eminently qualified to take over the reins of a Cessna Citation for Executive Jet or a Boeing 737 for Frontier Airlines. Instead, he took on another challenge by assuming his present role at WMU.

"I have the best of both worlds," says Grossman. "I am being paid to teach, and flying is part of the package. You are not out there only flying airplanes. Teaching is much better than flying. But, if you can combine the two, the combination is unbeatable!

"To me, human interaction is most important. As romantic and adventurous as flying may seem to those just starting out in the business, the pilot of today's modern aircraft is locked away in a closet in the front of a machine that can pretty much fly itself. While flying for a major airline, considered to be the top of the career ladder, the pilot's only companion is apt to be a stranger whom he sees only periodically, plus a few flight attendants in the van to and from the hotel. Granted, this lifestyle and career track is a 'turn on' to tens of thousands of airmen employed by the airlines. For me, though, it's not enough."

When asked, "What's in it for you?" Grossman replies with candor. "The most rewarding experience is when a graduate whom you have trained and nurtured for several years comes into the office and exclaims, 'I've just been hired by Mesaba Airlines!' or 'I've just been invited to interview for a flying position at Acme Tool Company.' To realize that you have played a part in perpetuating the industry and have added another quality product to the aviation mix is an extraordinary feeling of accomplishment."

What does all this mean? For the person who has the passion for both teaching and flight; for the mid-life career-changer who wants to chuck the corporate rat race and reenergize the spirit by immersing himself in the vitality of a youthful campus culture; for the golden-ager who, after a career of punching holes in the sky in Boeings or bizjets, now longs to share a wealth of experience with young successors, now is the time to explore the possibilities of becoming CFI of higher learning.

Getting Started

To begin your search for campus flight instructing opportunities, visit the AOPA Web site (www.aopa.org ), which offers classified ads listing flight instructor positions. The University Aviation Association's monthly newsletter also routinely lists flight instructor positions. Find them on the World Wide Web (www.uaa.auburn.edu) or telephone 334/844-2434. Additionally, Air Jobs Digest (800/AIR-JOBS) regularly features college instruction opportunities. Also visit one of aviation's most comprehensive Web sites (www.landings.com ), and check out the "Schools" category to surf the aviation college sites listed there.