This week has been pretty busy. With checkrides, solos, and students new to instrument training, I have no shortage of work. I would say this is a pretty typical week.
I flew 29 hours, was paid for 32. I spent aproxamilty 54 hours at the school.
I currently have two students in the instrument phase, one in the private phase, and a fourth student that just finished instrument and is off on crew cross countries. I am also working with another instructors student while he is out of town this week.
With daylight savings causing sunrise in Florida to fall back from 7:45 to 6:45, it has made for some very early mornings.
Monday (2.5 Hours Logged, paid for 5.5… We are paid for our students solo time as we have to be on the ground monitoring them. Most of us use this time to provide ground instruction.)
Schedule
-Arrived at 6:15am for preflight brief
-6:45am - 9:45am Private cross country flight lesson
-10:30am - 12:30pm - Instrument flight lesson
-1:30pm - 3:30pm - Instrument flight lesson
-4pm - 5:30pm - Private checkride prep flight
-6pm - 7pm - Private pilot simulator lesson Home 7:30pm
Wednesday (7.3 Hours Logged)
Schedule
-Arrived at 6:15am for preflight brief
-6:45am - 9:45am Private cross country
-10am - 11:30am - Instrument ground lesson
-11:30am - 1:30pm - Instrument flight lesson
-2pm - 4pm - Instrument flight lesson Home 4:30pm
Thursday (5.4 Hours Logged)
Schedule
-Arrived at 6:15 for preflight brief
-6:45am-9am Private checkride prep flight
-9:15am - 10am Weekly instructor meeting
-10:30am-12:30pm Solo cross country ground
-12:30pm-2:30pm Instrument cross country flight
-3:30pm-5:30pm Instrument cross country flight Home 6pm
Friday (5.8 Hours Logged)
Schedual
-Arrived at 6:15 for preflight brief
-6:45-8:45am Instrument flight lesson
-9:45 - 1:15 Instrument flight lesson Home 1:45pm
When you say you were paid for 32hrs, but you were at the school for 54hrs what work were you doing that was “unpaid” and why was it considered “off the clock”
Does the 32 count towards the hour thresholds for pay scale or just the 29. Not sure it really matter in relation to my real question, but I’d like to know, I guess. My real question is how hard is it or what things cause issue with making the 100 hours a month and getting paid the highest hourly rate?
First you have to have enough students doing enough flying to make 100. Second you’re also expected (required) to do ground school which might impact your hours. Last 100hrs a month is ALOT of flying. Everyone is in a hurry but it’s not just about quantity, it’s about quality. When you go through YOUR flight training do you want your instructor to give you quality instruction? Do you want them to take the time to explain things and offer to spend time not in the airplane to make sure you understand concepts and improve your skills or should they simply treat you as a means to build hours and jump from plane to plane only caring that the engine is turning?
Not in a rush to get my 1500 just wondering if it was something that was a choice to get the 100 hours a month pay rate or if, at times, it was impossible, even if you wanted to.
Does ATP have a CFI Academy in Jacksonville Florida because I saw online there was an ATP Flight School that has CFI Academy in Florida. For attending the CFI Academy, can I choose which location I want to go to myself or can only ATP make this determination.
Yes JAX has CFI training, however you will be sent to the location that has availability at the time you’re ready. It may be JAX, but it could be elsewhere.
Is it realistic to say that you can earn 1500 hours of flight time in 18-24 months? That is what ATP is advertising and I find it hard to believe that you can earn 1500 hours that quickly.
I’m considering flight school, but weighing my options since this would be my second career. I am 40 and not sure if there is time for me to ever get hired to fly with a big airline.
18-24 months is absolutely possible. I did it in 22 and I only averaged 60 hours a month. A 75 hour monthly average could get you done in 20. 75 hours a month is the nationwide average.
ATP’s training centers vary in size, but ATP does a good job at balancing the instructor-student ratio.
At 40, you could absolutely reach the major airline level and possibly still have enough time to upgrade to Captain at a major if you wanted.
Tory laid out the numbers for you and yes it’s most definitely doable in that time frame. Factor in the overwhelming demand for pilots and unprecedented movement in the industry and there’s an excellent chance you’ll go much further than expected, even with the late start.
Seriously both FedEx and Delta are boasting upgrade times in under a year and with the direct pathways there literally is no better time to get into this industry. It’s crazy and I’m jealous!
Kevin,
It’s incredibly attainable. I finished from zero time to 1500 in 22 months as well, including the pandemic! The timeline is aggressive compared to other local flight schools yet entirely realistic. Just to give you a more focused picture, 75 hours a month is about 18 hrs per week. That’s 2, two hour flights, four days a week plus one flight on the fifth day.
-Hannah
Hi. I have a question to add to this. Who controls the CFI’s schedule? Does the CFI choose the exact schedule or does someone from “above” do the scheduling?