Attracting and retaining instructors in a competitive market - AOPA Flight School Business Seminar 4-15-14
•
1 like•588 views
Seminar presented by Jason Blair on how to attract and keep instructors for flight schools that provide pilot training. The seminar considers current trends in instructor development, pay, and employment needs. The semnar is intended to help flihgt schools more successfully attract and keep instructors.
Recommended
Recommended
More Related Content
Viewers also liked
Viewers also liked (20)
Similar to Attracting and retaining instructors in a competitive market - AOPA Flight School Business Seminar 4-15-14
Similar to Attracting and retaining instructors in a competitive market - AOPA Flight School Business Seminar 4-15-14 (20)
More from Jason Blair
More from Jason Blair (9)
Recently uploaded
Recently uploaded (20)
Attracting and retaining instructors in a competitive market - AOPA Flight School Business Seminar 4-15-14
- 1. www.jasonblair.net Attracting and Retaining Instructors in a Competitive Market Presented By: Jason Blair
- 2. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Instructors are Vital Staff Members to any Flight Training Business They: • Have extensive and regular contact with customers • Are critical the success of the training your business provides • Directly affect the profitability of flight training businesses
- 3. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business High turnover of flight instructors damages the business of flight training providers Damages include but are not limited to: • Students going with them if they go to work for competitors • Students feeling “left in the dark” and “unsupported” • Lack of training progress in transitions • Loss of revenue • Bad reputation with other potential employees
- 4. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Why do Instructors Leave? Many instructors leave jobs to: • Go places that will get them more flight time • Take jobs in “bigger/better” planes • Go where they can make more money • Leave aviation because they can’t make enough money Figure out how to attract keep good instructors to be more successful!
- 5. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Current Instructor Climate • Fewer instructors certified each year than historically • Older instructor group • Many flight training providers experiencing high staff turnover • Many instructors being hired by airlines rapidly who are experiencing a shortage of pilots (either at 1500 hours or at the 1000 hour restricted ATP qualifications levels)
- 6. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Getting Older as a Group • Older CFIs less likely to actively instruct • Fewer younger instructors to fill the ranks • Older CFIs more likely to have full time flying jobs outside of instruction (just keeping the certificate active)
- 7. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business
- 8. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business
- 9. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business
- 10. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Pilot Shortages Affect Instructor Availability
- 11. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business What Does It Mean for Flight Training Businesses? • Smaller hiring pool • More competitive job market for employers • Need to more actively recruit • Ways to attract and keep employees need to be expanded • Instructors are staying shorter periods of time
- 12. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business How to Attract and Keep Instructor Employees • Pay competitive wages • Offer additional incentives • Do what it takes to keep instructors growing in their career at your business.
- 13. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Wages… Paying a fair hourly wage or even salary can be a significant part of attracting or keeping instructors. Consider how the wages affect billing to customers… Think about cost of living in your market… What do you think a fair wage SHOULD be for an instructor?
- 14. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business
- 15. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Monetary Compensation Evaluate what a reasonable expectation of the number of hours the instructors will fly / work and consider how much this will allow them to make each week, month, and/or yearly. Is this a livable wage? Make them staff, not an independent contractor – it keeps you clear of problems and helps them deal with taxes.
- 16. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Keep Them Busy • Don’t hire too many instructors • Get them enough hours to make a living • Consider other tasks they get paid for in their off instruction times
- 17. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Benefits and Context…
- 18. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Offer Medical Benefits Many instructors do not have medical benefits, so offering them can be the difference in attracting and keeping instructors. • You don’t necessarily have to pay for all of the benefits; can be shared costs • Can be a critical part of an employees compensation considerations • May be required you offer them (depending on business size)
- 19. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Provide Housing Instructors may be moving across the country to work for you, they will need somewhere to live. Consider providing housing for your instructors. • Rental house for your staff? • Arrangements with local apartments?
- 20. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business http://www.adfairways.net/adf-hiring-instructors
- 21. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business
- 22. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Help Them Reach Career Goals • Consider offering additional training such as CFI-I, MEI, Tailwheel, High Performance, etc. • Specialty avionics training • Other categories and classes?
- 23. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Or…. Make it Hard for them to Decide to Move On…. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303874504579377181586540284
- 24. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business http://www.alpa.org/portals/alpa/pressroom/pressreleases/2014/pilot-pay-chart.pdf
- 25. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Nominate Instructors for Awards http://flighttraining.aopa.org/awards http://www.nata.aero/Awards/Excellence-in-Pilot-Training.aspx http://www.generalaviationawards.com/ NATA Award For Excellence in Pilot Training
- 26. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Establishing hiring relationships with airlines for your instructors can be one of the most successful ways to attract new instructors http://www.atpflightschool.com/airlines/
- 27. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business On-Boarding (standardization) Training • Provide your instructors training that will make them successful in your equipment / training environment • Give them copies of and familiarize them with training materials used at your operation
- 28. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business What about Other Perks You Can Offer? • Chart Subscriptions? • Pay for their AOPA, EAA, NAFI, SAFE, etc. memberships? • Pay for / Provide their cell phone? • Provide work clothing?
- 29. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Places to Recruit • Word of mouth? • Classified Ads? • Online job sites + • Facebook/Google advertising + • Visit places that train instructors + • Industry job sites (AOPA / NAFI ) that highlight specific flight instruction jobs http://jobs.aopa.org/
- 30. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Highlight Your Company Strengths In Recruiting Efforts • Good weather? • Training contracts with international airlines? • Able to provide training funding / VA access? • Type of aircraft you operate? • Any special relationships?
- 31. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Support Career Instructional Goals Instruction can be a career. Not all pilots want to be airline pilots or corporate pilots. Finding instructors that want a career that is different can help you retain instructors for longer periods of time.
- 32. www.jasonblair.net How to Attract and Keep Flight Instructors at Your Flight Training Business Thanks for listening! Questions? Or find more information at: www.JasonBlair.net
Editor's Notes
- The following is a discussion of the current flight instructor hiring market and some approaches to attracting and retaining instructors in this competitive market.
- Historically there was an excess of instructors available for the positions that were offered. This has changed over the past few years. We are seeing fewer become certified each year, our overall group is aging, and many are leaving to go to airlines earlier than in the past. “In the olden days of aviation,” it was common that instructors would need 2-3000 hours of experience before they got their first airline jobs. This changed in the mid 2000s when we saw hiring as low as 4-500 hours. Even with increased hours up to the 1000/1500 hours level instructors are transitioning quickly. The result is that many flight training providers are experiencing high staff turnover.
- CFIs at local airports have more traditionally been middle aged than those in large university/collegiate and academy training environments. While this is a bit of a generalization, it can be seen anecdotally. As our pilot population ages, it is so reflected in our CFI community. Many older CFIs work full time as professional pilots or are retired essentially. In these cases, they are more commonly acting as part-time CFIs or not at all even though they have an “active” certificate. These individuals are essentially out of the job market for us to actively recruit to service in flight training businesses. With fewer CFIs certificates being issued we are losing CFIs on both ends, creating a more comepetitive CFI hiring environment.
- Overall we are actually certifying fewer CFIs each year than historically. This means there are fewer CFIs coming into the system from which to hire.
- Here is the same data on a trend line.
- Another indicator is the number of Flight Instructor Knowledge tests that are issued each year.
- Airlines are hiring instructors who meet hiring minimums as quickly as possible to fill vacant seats and training classes. This takes them away from the flight training providers that need them to train pilots. It also results in a shortage of flight instructors who are available to train new flight instructors (due to the 2 year experience requirement for instructors to train new instructors).
- All of these factors make attracting and keeping instructors harder than recent times.
- When it comes to the basics, offering competitive wages is the start, offering additional benefits helps, keeping instructors growing in their careers is a cherry on top.
- Wages are the most basic consideration, but not necessarily all that is important to instructors. When considering wages it is worth considering the cost of living in the area. If what instructors earn is not a sufficient wage to live comfortably, they will see other opportunities at the earliest availability.
- Here is a little data from a survey about what instructors commonly are paid. This data was derived from a survey conducted by the National Association of Flight Instructors in December of 2012.
- Paying instructors a good wage actually makes it harder for them to leave since they will many times be taking a significant pay reduction to “move up” to another flying job.Make instructors staff. Most instructors do not meet the requirements for “independent contractor” status and making an instructor an employee helps them better manage taxes and your business avoid potential trouble.For more information visit: http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Independent-Contractor-Self-Employed-or-Employee
- An underutilized instructor will get bored and leave or have to leave to make a livable wage. A common mistake many flight training providers make is hiring too many instructors. When this happens, most instructors only get enough activity to be “part time” and they can’t make a full living. Hire enough to serve your customers, but keep the numbers down enough to make sure your instructors can be “full time.”
- Most flight instructors do not identify flight instruction as their primary source of income. The above charts show some basic statistics about the benefits that many instructors receive as a part of their compensation for providing instruction.
- While it is expensive, offering medical benefits as a part of the compensation for an instructor can be a significant attracting part of an instruction job. You don’t need to necessarily pay for all of the benefits, it might be just offering access to a plan for which they pay, it may be full employer pay, or it might be shared costs. Insurance can be a reason people take and also whey they don’t leave jobs.With changes resultant from the affordable care act, it may be required that the business offer staff medical benefits, depending on the size of the business. Talk with your benefits services provider, accountant, and/or your attorney to clarify this if you have any questions of applicability to your business.
- This could be a mix including anything from providing them housing, to having a house they can rent, to offering relationships with local housing providers.
- Here is an ad I found on my google email one day in the sidebar.
- Note the mix of things they are offering to attract students. It represents an aggressive hiring package offered to instructors.
- Many instructors have only single engine privileges when they begin working. Giving them help getting additional ratings or certificates can help them move forward in their career and can help you grow the capabilities of your instructors. Specialty skills such as tailwheel, high performance, or specialty avionics training. How about other categories and classes, maybe a rotorcraft rating?This is training you can advertise to your customers later and potentially leverage to gain more revenue.
- Many pilots seeking professional airline jobs have a hard time justifying the “pay cut” when they are working at a good flight training provider. If you are providing a good mix of compensation, you may find that your instructors are making considerably more money than they would with an airline during the first few years. Adding into this consideration a stable place to call home, no need to move, and the potential to set their own hours, it may be possible to keep instructors longer than you think.
- In a recentinfographic provided by ALPA, entry level commercial airline pilot pay is compared with other professions. Can your flight school beat this? If so, not all your instructors may be motivated by just “shiny jet syndrome.”
- Recognition for instructors can be a very beneficial perk.AOPA has a program that recognizes excellence in flight training by nomination.The General Aviation Awards program is conducted in conjunction with FAA Safety Team efforts and results in regional and national flight instructor awards.NATA offers a nomination process for NATA member schools to recognize excellent providers of pilot training.
- Airlines are actively hiring instructors and are in need of good sources of pilots for their operations. If you are a large enough provider of training and have a good supply of instructors, while it does create some turnover, setting up relationships with airlines to “flow through” can help ensure a more regular inflow of instructors seeking to take advantage of these relationships by working for your company.While this does create turnover, it is at a predictable pace and does keep filling the vacancies with other instructors who are seeking career advancement.
- Making sure you train your instructors and give them the tools to succeed is important. You may hire instructors who are not experienced in the particular make and models of aircraft that you operate. Give them some training so that they will feel comfortable when they start working with customers; additionally this ensures they will be providing quality training to those customers.It is also important to make sure that new instructors are familiar with the training materials, syllabus, and other tools that will be used in the training process.
- Chart subscriptions cut costs for instructors and make sure they will have current data when teaching.Paying for their memberships in industry associations keeps them informed about what is going on in the industry and can help them learn more about subjects that will help their teaching of students.Something as simple as paying their cell phone bills can help cut their own costs but ensure that a reliable means of contact for them is always available. Group plans for businesses can reduce costs.Providing even something as simple as a few polo or button down shirts can help save the instructor some money that they would need to spend on “looking presentable” to do their work. It also ensures that you have a common look among your instructors.
- Finding instructors can be tough, even with the right mix of incentives. Word of mouth is one start, but it is typically only going to attack local supplies of talent. Classified ads can be placed in local media, but is typically not where instructors look for jobs.There are many aviation specific online job sites.Facebook and Google advertising can be affordable if you take the time to build a good target market and it can be highly effective in reaching exactly who might be candidates for you.In person visits to places that train instructors is a great idea. Even flight schools that are busy can’t always hire all the instructors they train (a common ratio of students to instructors is 1/6-9Finding instructors on industry specific boards is more likely to help you find candidates who are engaged with the industry already.
- Good weather allows for more regular flying and activity to make a living. Having access to good student pools is a good way to have instructors be confident that they will have a consistent student base. Access to funding for students ensure the same.Types of aircraft can be helpful in recruitment. Are they TAA? Multi-Engine?How about any relationships with charter operators or corporate flight departments that might help your instructors gain experience?
- These instructors can advance within organizations to lead or chief flight instructor positions. Possibly to larger organizations as leaders in training, to training companies that develop training materials, or to universities and colleges as professors.