Six tips to becoming a good CFI

The gateway to aviation leads directly through the CFI corps.

In fact, with the exception of Part 103 ultralight vehicle pilots and the arguable possibility that Part 107 drone operators could sneak under the fence without seeking instruction, every person who identifies as a pilot has spent time and worked closely with one or more flight instructors.

Years ago, it was discovered that the flight training drop-out rate was as high as 80%, a staggering number that would ruin many industries. Fortunately, aviation has survived that horrendous shortfall, but the industry could do much better. We should make the attempt, surely.

It goes without saying that a drop-out rate that high must have some connection to the quantity and quality of CFIs on the job. Rest assured I am not attempting to disparage CFIs in general. I am a CFI myself and proud of it.

But I know something that few seem willing to acknowledge and fewer still appear to be inclined to address head on. It is this: The CFI position is initially an entry-level situation.

Serving as a CFI is a critically important job that can become a career in and of itself. A satisfying one, too. Yet it is an assignment typically held by someone relatively young and inexperienced in business. They have often logged only a few hundred hours of flight time. Through no fault of their own they possess a limited understanding of marketing, finance, customer service, regulatory requirements, or their own likely path to a more established career.

That was me at one time. Like so many others, I was once young, inexperienced, hopeful, but somewhat lost.

And why wouldn’t I be?

When the FAA issued me my CFI certificate way back when, the administration was not indicating I had talent, or experience, or some profound insight into how people learn. The FAA was simply indicating that I had met the bare minimum requirements to teach. That’s it.

If I wanted to teach well, if I wanted to stay safe and pass on that goal as a cultural norm to my students, I was going to have to do some serious self-improvement.

Being a respected professional in any field takes effort. Earning CFI status is just the start of it.

Last week it became public knowledge that as many as 20% of check ride applicants do not meet the minimum standards that would allow their Designated Pilot Examiner to conduct the practical test. They get to pay for the DPE’s time. They get to cover the cost of the aircraft rental or operation if they have to travel. They even get to experience all the normal jitters that none of us enjoy but all of us have experienced. They just don’t get to take the check ride.

They’ve been sent off to become a pilot without having the minimum qualifications to become a pilot. Now whose fault is that? There’s no hiding from that one. This is 100% percent the responsibility of the CFI.

With that in mind, let me offer some basic guidance. Anyone who is a CFI or wishes to become a CFI should take these few tips as the bare minimum commitment on their journey to becoming a truly effective, efficient, professional CFI.

1. Know this: You do not have to be a great pilot to be an outstanding flight instructor. CFIs are teachers, not air show performers. Your understanding of the basics and the communication skills you employ to share that knowledge are the key to your student’s success.
2. Talk to your students, not at them. To teach well it is necessary to establish a bond with your students. Accept them as individuals. Make the effort to understand their fears, their motivations, their financial capacity, and their concerns. These will all become factors in their ability to make progress at some point.
3. Brief and debrief each lesson. Do it even if you’re not being paid for ground time. These are critical components of a productive flight lesson. If you’re not briefing and debriefing, you’re shortchanging your clients. Do it.
4. Use a syllabus. There should be a plan for every lesson. If the school you fly for doesn’t require you to use a syllabus, do it anyway. There are excellent products available commercially for you to choose from. Consider this purchase as essential as your headset. Both the student and the CFI should be clear on what the plan is before they ever climb into the aircraft.
5. Sit with your student to review their logbook and confirm your student’s qualifications before sending them out for a practical test. Nothing erodes confidence, wastes time, ties up resources, and unnecessarily empties bank accounts like sending an unqualified applicant to a practical test they are not qualified to take.
6. Accept and even encourage critique. None of us is perfect. There is no rule that says you can’t do the equivalent of an exit interview with your clients. After they complete their training and ace their check ride, it is not just acceptable — but potentially game changing — to ask something along the lines of “Was there anything I could have done to help you gain confidence or competence during your training?” or “Was there something you struggled with during training that you wish we had worked on differently?”

Like the couple struggling with debt before they discover Dave Ramsey, like Tom Brady who was so poorly thought of he was the 199th pick in the 2000 NFL draft, like Sean Tucker who learned to fly aerobatics in an attempt to overcome his very rational fear of flying — instilled in him by less than ideal CFIs — we all need a mentor to help us develop into the top performer we believe we can be.