Before the 1500 hour rule - was it easy to find a CFI/CFII/MEI?

[josephades]

Just curious

Because of the 1500 hour rule, there are tons and tons of CFIs

CFIIs - fair amount

MEI- not that many

What was this like when you only needed 250 hours to get to the airline? Were they charging more than they were today because of supply/demand?

Very curious

 

[Art VanDelay]

CFI's have been plentiful since almost the day after the Wright brothers first flew.

 

[mscard88]

I got hired at a "commuter" that later evolved into a "regional". Had an ATP, CFII-ME, and a Control Tower Certificate (just threw that in there) and I think around 3700 TT and 500+ ME. But of course this was before the English Proficient endorsement, so....

 

[Harold Rutila]

From my perspective as a full-time CFI, the number of active instructors is actually quite low. I don't know what region of the country is experiencing a surplus of CFIs, with the exception of some of the major universities where instructors are usually quite abundant. Many of the airline-career-oriented instructors who were affected by the 1,500-hour rule were hired by airlines within the last 18 months or so.

I started flying in the mid-2000s just before the economy collapsed, and this industry was going through a very similar economic situation. The airlines were hiring like crazy. Even in Flint, MI where I did nearly all of my training, we had people going through the local flight school and going to Mesaba Airlines, Compass, etc. fairly soon after finishing their multi-engine ratings. Obviously this did not last long, and by 2009, most of my instructors were barely getting by. Nearly all of them took lower-paying jobs once they were furloughed by the airlines. (All of them are back on their feet today.)

In terms of the flight instruction rates in the mid-2000s, the average cost in the midwest was around $45-$50/hr. I would say there has been about a 10% increase in that rate over the last 10 years or so. The take-home percentage for instructors has always varied anywhere between 10% and 100% depending on local economic factors.

I would theorize that the high demand for flight training in the mid-2000s caused the rates to be very similar to today's rates. Today's rates are mainly generated by the low supply of flight instructors nationwide.

 

[denverpilot]

From my perspective as a full-time CFI, the number of active instructors is actually quite low.

We seem to have quite a few around here, but all are busy. Rumor is that there's a particularly larger shortage in MEIs right now here, than anything. All the MEIs were sucked up by airlines or other commercial jobs.

Single engine, there's "enough" CFis around, but scheduling is tight for many, especially over the summer. Not a huge amount of full timers but enough doing the part time thing (like me, I suppose here eventually) that stuff is covered.

Now that the cold weather is here, I see it's already a lot quieter at the airport, which is normal... especially on weekdays... summer, the pattern is full of students... winter, there's maybe one airplane or two doing laps.

 

[Harold Rutila]

We seem to have quite a few around here, but all are busy. Rumor is that there's a particularly larger shortage in MEIs right now here, than anything. All the MEIs were sucked up by airlines or other commercial jobs.

Single engine, there's "enough" CFis around, but scheduling is tight for many, especially over the summer. Not a huge amount of full timers but enough doing the part time thing (like me, I suppose here eventually) that stuff is covered.

Now that the cold weather is here, I see it's already a lot quieter at the airport, which is normal... especially on weekdays... summer, the pattern is full of students... winter, there's maybe one airplane or two doing laps.

Same thing out here in TX, except the weather isn't as cold as CO. (I do love CO winters, though -- nothing better.)