Off to the right as I enter the building is a small room with two leather couches and TV. At any given time, students will be sitting, sleeping, or talking in their native language. I scan the faces of the 10 students sitting in the room. None of them are mine. I walk to the back of the building where the dispatch desk is to greet my fellow flight instructors. "Happy Saturday!" Since getting out of the Air Force, I've made a conscious effort to start every morning with a smile. Some days I am able to maintain the happiness all day. Others, like today, end in frustration.
Other than the bad students, I love my job. On Friday, I had another student pass a check ride. Finishing him was bittersweet. It's always good to see the pure elation in their faces as they walk in from the airplane. I walk out to greet him and help him tie down the airplane and the smile on his face was unending. "Thank you Chris. I couldn't have done it without you." I shake his hand and tell him that he did all the work, I just gave him a few pointers. For students like him, that statement is true. He studied and it showed. He is the kind of student an instructor loves to have. Unfortunately, for every one of those, you get 2 or 3 students who refuse to study and then complain it is taking them so long or they are paying more than they thought. My track record is clear. I finish students and make good pilots. If you aren't safe, we do it again until you are safe. If you don't study, you pay me to study with you. I'm not cheap.
In fact, last week I was promoted. Aside from assuming the role of "Safety Officer," I was recently appointed by the school as a Designated Check Instructor. As part of our school's curriculum, at certain points throughout a student's training, they must flight with a Check Instructor to ensure their progress is satisfactory for that particular stage in training. It allows our school to issue "licenses" at lower than normal training time. For a student, this means they spend less money. As a designated check instructor, I will be conducting these "mini-check rides" to ensure the students are progressing and the instructors are teaching them what they are supposed to be learning. While this isn't an incredibly significant promotion, it does mean that I have the trust of my boss to be an important "quality check" for our school. Oh, and it comes with another pay raise. If you wouldn't asked me a year ago what I was hoping to make as a flight instructor, I would have never even imagined I would be where I am at now. It definitely makes the frustration of dealing with students worth the hassle.
Sometimes I wonder why things happen the way they do. Two years ago, I was engaged to be married. I was committed to move to Alabama or Florida with my fiance and look for a government contract job. Then, at some time right around now, everything changed and the engagement was painfully ended. I had already started the process of separating from the Air Force so after a few months of thinking, I decided to keep the ball rolling. It isn't every day you are given a chance to start your life over. With no commitments, and no debt, I was able to ask myself what I REALLY wanted to do with my life. I thought over the things I really enjoyed over the past 27 years and remembered a conversation I had with some of my best friends not long before. One of my friends commented about how happy I had become since I started flying in Montana. I attributed it to the new relationship I had found myself in, but he was skeptical. He claimed the relationship was a result of flying and he was right. I LOVED flying. So, I took the leap.
I would eventually settle on a flight school known for the pace at which students finished. They also offered guaranteed employment for their new graduates with a promise to build time and, more importantly, multi-engine time, fast. So, after a little research, I jumped head first into the commitment. By the end of training, I was told there would be a 3 month wait to start flight instructor standardization with the school. So, I spammed my resume out to a bunch of flight schools around the country. A small school in Annapolis, Maryland with a Naval Academy contract offered me a job. I almost jumped at the opportunity but out of the blue, the small school in New Smyrna Beach called me and asked me to interview. ATP, the school I went to, was offered $800 a month salary with minimal hourly pay for flight instruction. I was told that an average monthly pay was around $1500. Housing was provided at a minimal fee but you'd have to share an apartment with 3 other guys and share your bedroom. Looking back, I am so incredibly happy I didn't end up there.
At the same time, airlines started raising their minimums. My timing couldn't have been less favorable. As I continued to build flight time, I just couldn't catch the raising minimums and this winter resigned to the fact that I would have to instruct for 1500 hours before getting hired really anywhere. At the end of last month, I passed 1200 total time. In a matter of months, the world will be my oyster. Even more importantly, I am not going to be forced to make a decision based on my current working conditions. I will be able to make a level-headed decision based on my future career and not based on the "next best thing." Yesterday, I turned down a job flying a jet. The details behind my decision are unimportant. The pay cut I would have taken (which would have been a raise from ATP), and the quality of life difference (on-call 24/7) could not be overcome by the incredibly small amount of flying I would do. So I thanked the man for the interview and decided to wait for something else. As my friend Micah said, "the industry is opening up. Just be patient."
In the mean time, I enjoy the benefit of teaching at an international flight school. As you see in the picture at the end, students are kind enough to give gifts to instructors they like. Oddly enough, my students think I'm an alcoholic.From left to right: 12 year-old Jamaican Rum, Brazilian Cachaça (pronounced Kushasa), Colombian Beer, a massive bottle of Grey Goose, Ukrainian Vodka, and a Sri Lankan silver plate.
I've also received Colombian coffee candies, Colombian coffee, a gold Egyptian Ankh pendant, and one of my students even threw me my own Arabian feast. So, until next time, Bottoms Up!
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