Now more than ever

Over time, the face of flight instruction changed. More instructors emerged with a solely civilian flying background and flight tests were delegated to chosen flight instructors within the industry. Rather than a post-military career, for many flight instruction became the first step in their career and in turn, a stepping stone to other branches of the industry. Experienced, long term instructors became more scarce, replaced by a younger generation on the move.

With the passage of time, any gloss associated with flight training as a vocation also began to wear thin. Positions that were once full-time and salaried, transitioned to a ‘retainer’ and compensation for actual hours flown. Rainy months with little flying meant that the rent fell due and the coffers were often bare. It accelerated the desire for many instructors to leave the profession, and with them went their experience. The erosion of conditions and a downturn in general aviation and flight training made it even harder for instructors to remain and the vocation became even less desirable.

Certain larger schools found refuge in international contracts and were able to maintain a substantial fleet and a team of qualified and reasonably compensated instructors. Elsewhere the decline continued, the aircraft fleets aged and the the instructors hardly bothered to close the door on their way out. And now we need them and we need them in numbers.

Just as there is a lead time in recruiting and training an airline pilot to a revenue generating standard, flight instructors cannot be moulded out of clay and left to set overnight. A commercial pilot licence holder may achieve the barest of ratings in a reasonable timeframe, but senior instructors are far more difficult to come by. The experience is not merely an asset to the quality of knowledge that can be imparted, but it is required for a school to perform certain functions. And these are necessary functions if schools are looking to train the airline pilots of tomorrow.

Experience is need to assess students at various stages of their training, to oversee operations such as night flying, to hold Chief Flying Instructor posts and to gain the critical delegations from the regulator. Furthermore, there is a time lag and cost involved with every upgrade and approval that each instructor seeks, both in preparing for the qualification and, in turn, having it assessed and processed by the regulator.

A flying school is a multi-faceted operation, nurturing a raw student into a competent instrument pilot. It is no mean feat and for too long it has been cast as the poor relative of flying operations. As with our traditional schooling, teachers are undervalued for the critical part they play in all of our lives. A quality flight instructor is a tremendous asset to both the organisation and the student pilots within their care. Accordingly, due recognition should be forthcoming for these valued professionals, as should proportionate compensation.

Perhaps the looming shortage will actually provide some leverage for the flight instructors of Australia. Without them, the next generation of heavy metal drivers cannot obtain their wings. Just as every other professional has a long line of tutors, lecturers and classrooms behind the framed degree hanging on the wall, so too does every pilot and set of epaulettes. Flight instructors and aircraft of significant quality will be needed to feed the demand and possibly, for once, flight instructors may have some voice in the matter.

Every pilot can cast their mind back to mentors and madmen. Instructors that they admired and those that didn’t deserve the title of flight instructor. Quality flight instructors will be needed for inevitably, many of the existing experienced mentors will be swept into the airlines themselves, exacerbating the void. Yes, we need airline pilots, but each new First Officer can only be hoisted into a flight deck by the efforts of a number of flight instructors and ground school teachers beforehand. The entire food chain needs to be considered, not merely the high profile carnivores at the top of the pyramid.

Individually respected and yet often overlooked as a group, flight instructors are needed now more than ever. One can only hope that industry responds by truly recognising and compensating them for the critical role that they serve in a very complex training process. Our flight instructors are pivotal in providing the sound foundations for tomorrow’s generation of pilots. Without them, the future may not be so bright as the current recruiting drive and advertisements might suggest.

‘Flight instructors are needed now more than ever.’