I began my journey into professional aviation in 2001. I was 29 and it was a second career for me. The first full two years were spent as a full-time CFI. My average gross income as a CFI was $12K each year, less than one-fifth from the career I left. My first employer, a well-known national provider of flight training, billed customers $60-70/hr for our services yet paid us CFI's only $11-14/hr of that. While the ratio of billing vs. compensation improved with my second and third employers, most instructors I knew, including myself, had to work second jobs just to survive.
I believe CFI compensation WILL be addressed in the not-too-distant future, one way or another. Unless enough forward-thinking exists to finally bring CFI compensation to an appropriate level that will attract talented new instructors, flight training providers will be looking head-on at a real crisis for CFI services. In the later, the market will determine the compensation necessary to attract and retain flight instructors, as is the case with most labor...and I do not imagine most flight schools will like the outcome.
