Q: Where are the best locations to start as a flight instructor and build experience? How am I able to get an airline job without having to move? —Julian from Omaha
A: The best place to start as a flight instructor is the school that provided your initial training. This is a common practice in the industry. Whether you attend a large aviation college such as Embry-Riddle, a small school such as Hesston College in Kansas, or an academy with a name such as Delta Connection Academy or ATP, these training institutions typically provide employment for their top graduates. That’s not to say that every graduate gets a job as an instructor. With the job market very tight right now, there is little movement out of flight instruction to the regional airlines or corporate flying positions. I favor CFI work with formal aviation schools where you instruct every day, rather than a local FAR Part 61 school where you could be doing a lot of waiting for that next potential student to walk through the door.
At southern campuses in Florida and the Southwest, there are lots of great flying days with plenty of sunshine and mostly favorable flying conditions. If you train at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks or at Northwest Michigan College in Traverse City, however, you will get a boatload of actual IFR—real-world stuff. On those really ugly days when nobody is flying, you can continue training in simulators and flight training devices.
Mobility is a key strategy in getting a job, especially in today’s market. When regional airlines start hiring again, you may see more stringent requirements mandating that pilots live close to a base.
Q: I am 22 years old. My dream is to become a professional pilot. I am looking for scholarships because I cannot afford that amount of money at once. I appreciate any information you can provide me. —Marco from Ecuador
A: Investing in professional pilot training is pricey, to say the least. You could earn all of the FAA ratings right through commercial/AMEL/MEI for about $60,000 up to nearly $200,000, depending on the institution.
Finding scholarship money for a non-U.S. citizen can be difficult. Often there are unique requirements specified by scholarship providers such as membership in a certain organization, a minimum grade-point average, or enrollment in a particular school or university, for example.
So, the answer depends on your age and educational background. If you enter “aviation scholarships” in Google’s search engine, you will find more than 900,000 links. Dive in, do the research, and good luck!
Send us your career question and we’ll answer the best ones here. Sorry, but we are not able to provide individual responses.
Wayne Phillips is an airline transport pilot with Boeing 737 and Falcon 20 type ratings. He is a B-737 instructor and operates the Airline Training Orientation Program at the Continental Airlines Pilot Training Center. He is also a speaker for the AOPA Air Safety Foundation.
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