In article ,
(Peter Gibbons) wrote:

I know I will probably get alot of 'it depends' in response to this
question, but I guess I'm curious when a flight school charges a
student $25/hr for flight instruction, what chunk of that actually
goes to the CFI?

Anywhere between around $8 and $20, depending on various things.

Where I used to work, instructors were paid on a sliding scale, with the
pay rate increasing with the number of flight & ground hours billed
during the month. With time and after passing certain milestones, the
base rate (the rate at which you were paid from hour zero for the month)
could be increased, which was definitely a good thing during the slow
months. During the busy months, it wasn't uncommon for instructors to
reach $20 an hour, which gave them a gross income of $2400 for the
month. One great thing about that system was that any instructor could
reach that level, whether they were brand new on the staff with a base
rate of $8 an hour, or had been there for a couple of years with a base
rate of $12 an hour. It was motivation to get out and fill your
schedule and be productive.

And realistically your average CFI is not flying all the time. Figure
in weather delays, ground school, etc - what would a 'good' yearly
salary for a full-time, low-hour CFI be?

Expect to work two hours for every hour you bill. I knew instructors
who struggled to bill 50 hours in a month, and those with established
clientele who could make 100 hours a month without breaking a sweat.
That ranges you between $400 a month and $2000 a month - probably more
now since I left instruction in 1998. I also knew instructors who did a
lot of charter flying and were regularly able to gross $3000 a month
much of the year.

--
Larry Fransson
Aviation software for Mac OS X!
http://www.subcritical.com