flyforfun

flight instructor pay at DCA is 14 bucks an hour. That what i read on their website when they were hiring instructors.

ILS37R

While--as a former DCA guy--I certainly don't disagree with any of OP's points, here we have an expired horse laying on an out-of-warranty turntable that was thoroughly covered in last month's broadsheet.

SomedayRJ

You've touched a few soft spots here. Agree 100% on running lean of peak...hell, my Granddaddy was running radials lean of peak before the GAMIjector folks were gleams in their parents' eyes.

Far too many think that the mixture control has two settings—Idle/Cut Off and Full Rich. I've flown with too many certificated pilots who don't know what the red knob is for...or anything else about their engines—other than they take aviation gasoline (most of them) and make noises.

planediveguy

I am flying for a regional now, but still maintain contact with DCA. They are paying me 20 an hour for non-CFI and 25 for CFI stage check orals. Unless something has changed this week, your information might be outdated...

BrandedPilot

2005: Back when I instructed (while still on AD in the Navy)... I was paid in cash for my CFI time @ $35 for 91, and @ $40 for 141 students. Every bit of it was take home. Each instructor was a state licensed independent contractor, and set their own pay rate - among the 5 FBO's on the ramp the rate was identical.

Another great reason why not to use those stupid academies. What could they possibly use for their sales pitch now? XJT hasn't hired in over a year, and even Mesa is done training.

"Guaranteed Interview"....in India

planediveguy

Sarcasm apart... the CFI pay will have to improve in a few years. The "pilot shortage" is still coming and the next hiring cycle, when it hits, will absolutely kill the flight schools that do not hire and treat CFI's as professionals.

I am going to leave it at that....

SaltyDog

Sad, had a bro go there 15 years ago, seems nothing has changed. They lie and cheat folks. Sad, sad. I really dislike there business model. Makes my blood boil, welcome to the professional flying world. DCA is a blight.

xjcaptain

Not to pour gas on the fire......but what did you expect. I think you went in with your eyes closed and they are starting to open to the other possibilities that were our there. Sounds like flashy ads and brand new airplanes lured another student into paying much more for less than they could have had in a variety of other places.

Apache Eye

Hello Planediveguy! I think I know who you are...you gave me plenty of advice while I attended DCA (Jan 06-Nov 07). Hope all is well at your regional these days. I'm in the 'pool' swimming at ASA for now. There's a possibility that I might go back to instructing in gunships for a while until this industry sorts itself out again.

resetjet

I went to DCA, I know Jeremy (OP) even saw him on a crew van not to long ago. I agree with everything he says. What he didn't mention, and what I haven't seen here, are two things. One, a 141 environment encourages the student to be fully immersed in aviation, go to any bar in Sanford you'll see what I mean. You just don't get that at your local fbo. You don't get introduced to airline style manuals, uniforms, scheduling, etc. either. Two, you def. don't get standardized instruction. With a few exceptions the quality of instruction is excellent at DCA, Jeremy was a great example. I didn't rely on them to get the airline, I got a good aviation foundation there and left. Trust me on this, work hard and you'll pay less! There are a million different ways to get to the airlines, DCA was just a piece of the puzzle for me.