Building Flight Hours When There's No Appetite for Instruction

Here are nine options beyond the CFI route that will build flight hours along the way to airlines.

Friday, April 07, 2023 at 01:35 PM ET

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Flight instruction requires organizational ability, good communication skills, steady nerves, and the patience of Job. [File Photo: Adobe Stock]

Key Takeaways:

Despite a historic pilot shortage, low-time pilots still face significant challenges securing their first flying job to accumulate the required hours for airline careers.
Flight instructing remains the most prevalent path for new pilots to build experience, although it is demanding, often dangerous, and offers relatively low pay, leading many to seek alternatives.
Various entry-level alternatives exist, such as flying skydivers, ferry flying, aerial survey, or Part 135/private SIC roles, but these are generally less common, geographically limited, and heavily rely on networking.
Ultimately, new pilots must be prepared to hustle, network extensively, and maintain geographic flexibility to find initial flying opportunities, especially if they wish to avoid flight instructing.

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It was the spring of 2001, and after years of being foretold, the pilot shortage had finally arrived.

The major airlines’ hiring was in full swing, smaller upstarts like Southwest and JetBlue were rapidly expanding, and the regional airlines’ competitive minimums had fallen well below 1,000 hours. There were rumblings about slowing business-travel bookings for that summer and beyond, but this did little to darken the sunny outlook. Flight schools everywhere were jam-packed.