economics for potential CFI

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
21,872
Location
west Texas
Display Name
Dave Taylor
Home Airfield
KMRF
A friend is considering becoming a cfi in our huge rural area - which has zero such resources and where we often hear from people wanting to learn to fly.
He is wondering if there is any tool or guidelines to decide on the finances of this endeavor.
An excel file where one inputs costs and theoretical income would be ideal.

Failing that, a list of expense items would help. He could then price these things for his situation, make some estimates of student hours, establish a rough break-even price.

Thanks
 
schmookeeg said:
The ratio of people who talk about learning to fly vs. who are willing to pay the obscene sums needed to even get a PPL are probably 100:1.
Click to expand...
Tell me about it. Son got his this summer.
Afraid to add up the bills but I’m way north of $15K

IMG_0467.jpeg
 
CFI could be just as expensive expensive or the cheapest of all the cert./ratings. The minimum overhead would be a good insurance policy. And if not flying often, then flying to stay proficient.
 
Let'sgoflying! said:
A friend is considering becoming a cfi in our huge rural area - which has zero such resources and where we often hear from people wanting to learn to fly.
He is wondering if there is any tool or guidelines to decide on the finances of this endeavor.
An excel file where one inputs costs and theoretical income would be ideal.

Failing that, a list of expense items would help. He could then price these things for his situation, make some estimates of student hours, establish a rough break-even price.

Thanks
Click to expand...
No tools or guidelines needed. Your friend is not going to earn any meaningful income in rural area and if he has to purchase CFI insurance he may lose money in some years. Farmers think everyone providing them services have work for little to nothing and even then they won’t spend money.

To make a descent income as a CFI, you need to be located in an affluent urban area.
 
Last edited:
Let'sgoflying! said:
A friend is considering becoming a cfi in our huge rural area - which has zero such resources and where we often hear from people wanting to learn to fly.
He is wondering if there is any tool or guidelines to decide on the finances of this endeavor.
An excel file where one inputs costs and theoretical income would be ideal.

Failing that, a list of expense items would help. He could then price these things for his situation, make some estimates of student hours, establish a rough break-even price.

Thanks
Click to expand...

I doubt you’ll find an Excel sheet that captures something like this. Access to airplanes will be the major factor. Operating costs will be much higher in a training operation than in private ownership. Factor in insurance, hangar fees, and possibly an office space. If you’re in a rural area, maintenance logistics will become important - having to fly in a mechanic for every issue can quickly erode your margins. The rest - website, phone, scheduling, and other administrative costs - will be minor enough to fall well below the noise floor of your overall expenses.
 
Start with a lot of money and end up with only a little.

What else would you like to know?

Tim (I could not resist)
 
Earning a flight instructor certificate and maintaining it is fairly inexpensive, but typically the amount of time spent on doing a good job of instructing vs. the income pencils out to an hourly wage that I'd rather not think about. You didn't mention aircraft ownership/rental. Is this a service he is also thinking about offering? In the low cost of living rural area I live in it generally requires that an aircraft is flying about 350 rental hours/year to break even on costs and most of them barely make that mark on a typical year.

There's likely a reason there are no instructors in your area. Your friend can either take that as a hint or an opportunity.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top