Flight instructor pay in Anchorage

[Monguse]

A friend of mine is thinking of moving to Anchorage from the lower 48 to work as a flight instructor until he acquires enough time to get an air taxi job. He mentioned that Take Flight Alaska, a flight school at Merrill Field, charges $50 per hour for a flight instructor for either flight or ground instruction. Does anyone out there know what they pay their flight/ground instructors?

 

[ftaba1]

guess

guess

Well, since nobody's replying, my educated guess is less than half of $50 goes to instructor.

 

[stearmann4]

Well, here in western WA, most of the FBOs charge $40/hr and the CFI gets about $16-18/hr so I'm guessing it's similiar in Anchorage.

Mike-

 

[RocketRick]

instructor

instructor

Whelp I just talked to a rental place here in ANC. Took some cajoling to get the number for the instructors.

They charge $160/hr for 150 and $180 for 172. Instructors make $40/hr.

He said a guy from outside is gonna have a hard time getting a job doing it here in Ak. Says there are way more instructors then students right now bec of the economy. Also, w/o Alaska time, he said it would be very hard to get hired.

He said the aviation economy is low here. He's right cause I know of 2 UPS pilots that have been demoted recently. 40% cut in pay.

Hope that helps.....

 

[A_K_H_U_N_T_E_R]

Instructors make $40 an hour?? Or is it the flight school charges $40 an hour and the instructor makes something under that?

 

[RocketRick]

Instructors make $40 an hour?? Or is it the flight school charges $40 an hour and the instructor makes something under that?

AkH,

That's what he told me, $40/hr. Since they charge so much for the plane and instructor it makes sense.

The folk that give conventional gear and float training get $70/hr if you use your own plane. Much more if you use their plane.

 

[ftaba1]

I think you misunderstood them. I got my Commercial ticket with that school (which name starts w/ A). $40 is an extra (on top of $120 solo rate for C150) that they charge a student for dual instruction. So, it naturally makes you believe (it made me at first) that that $40 goes to the instructor. But that's not so. The instructor gets less than $25 out of $40.

AkH,

That's what he told me, $40/hr. Since they charge so much for the plane and instructor it makes sense.

The folk that give conventional gear and float training get $70/hr if you use your own plane. Much more if you use their plane.

 

[RocketRick]

HOw long ago wa that?

HOw long ago wa that?

fta,

Whelp I just reported what he told me yesterday to help out the query here.
Maybe your right.

How long ago was that?

I mean I used to rent from Wilbur's and A for $35/hr. Now it's $160/hr..

 

[ftaba1]

No worries, Rick. I understand you had good intentions. I was training there about 4 months ago for commercial rating. I wonder who did you talk to?

What's interesting they pay their instructors differently for ground school vs. flight training. For example, for 1 hr of advanced ground instruction (i.e. everything beyond private certificate) the school charges $47, but the instructor only gets $15 (yikes). For flying hour the instructor gets slightly more, but not by much (I don't remember the exact number).

fta,

Whelp I just reported what he told me yesterday to help out the query here.
Maybe your right.

How long ago was that?

I mean I used to rent from Wilbur's and A for $35/hr. Now it's $160/hr..

 

[jim in anchorage]

I don't know how take flight is, but aero tech is a ghost town. It doesn't help a instructor to make $40 a hour if he only works two hours a week.

 

[A_K_H_U_N_T_E_R]

I know exactly what instructors make at Take Flight and at Land and Sea. It sounds good in theory but as a flight instructor if you are scheduled for 10 hours a day you might only see 5 billable hours. That is why they are paid more per hour than the mechanics.

People ask me if I want to become a CFI, I say no. I couldnt afford my mortgage and every student is potentially trying to kill you.