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, new commercial pilots with low hours (e.g., 250-hour) still face significant challenges finding their first flying job to build required experience.
Flight instructing (CFI) remains the most common and accessible, though demanding and often low-paying, path for low-time pilots to accumulate flight hours.
While alternative entry-level flying jobs exist (e.g., skydiving, ferry, aerial patrol, various SIC roles), they are generally less prevalent, geographically restricted, and often require extensive networking.

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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.