WingmanPro tracks 464 open flight instructor jobs in the US and internationally right now. Check each listing for its location, required certificates and experience before applying. Narrow it down by total time, ratings or equipment on the board.
464 open flight instructor jobs in the US and internationally.
To be eligible for a flight instructor certificate you must be at least 18, be able to read, speak, write and understand English, and hold either a commercial pilot certificate or an ATP with an aircraft category and class rating appropriate to the instructor rating sought — plus an instrument rating where the rating sought calls for one (14 CFR 61.183).
Beyond eligibility, the certificate is earned on a fundamentals of instruction knowledge test, a rating-specific knowledge test, and a practical test flown from the right seat. CFII adds instrument instruction privileges and MEI adds multi-engine; most working instructors accumulate all three because each one widens what a school can roster you for.
Instructing is the most common bridge between the 250 hours a commercial certificate needs and the 1,500 — or 750 to 1,250 restricted — an ATP needs, because it is one of very few jobs that pays a low-time pilot to log time. A full-time instructor at a busy school can expect to move a meaningful number of hours a month, and dual given counts as pilot-in-command time.
It is also the job most people underrate as teaching. Instructors who take the instructional side seriously tend to move up faster inside a school — into check instructor, assistant chief and chief instructor roles — which pay better and log hours just the same.
Part 61 schools train against the regulation's requirements with flexible syllabus structure. Part 141 schools hold an FAA-approved curriculum and are audited against it, which permits reduced hour minimums for some certificates and makes them the route to the degree-based restricted ATP.
For an instructor the practical difference is structure and volume. Part 141 work is more prescribed, with stage checks and paperwork; Part 61 work is more varied. Academy-style Part 141 operations are where the largest instructor hiring happens, and several run explicit pathway agreements with regional airlines.
Four kinds of employer, and they want different things. Collegiate and academy flight schools hire in cohorts, often from their own graduates, and offer the most structured progression. Independent FBO-based schools hire one instructor at a time and value versatility — you may be teaching a discovery flight in the morning and an instrument student in the afternoon.
Beyond primary instruction there is type-specific and simulator work: contract instructors and simulator instructors at training providers, and check airman roles inside operators. Those pay considerably better and usually want turbine time and an MEI or CFII, which is one reason instructors chase the additional ratings early.
Primary flight training is weather-driven, so instructor demand is not flat across the year. Schools in the Sun Belt hire steadily; northern schools ramp in spring and thin out over winter, and some run explicit seasonal contracts with housing included. Instructor turnover is also structural rather than a warning sign: most instructors leave for an airline the month they clear the hour requirement, which is why postings reappear at the same schools on a predictable cycle.
Instructor pay is usually hourly and often split between a ground rate and a flight rate, so advertised figures depend heavily on how busy the school is and whether you are paid for briefings and cancellations. Some schools add a salary floor, a completion bonus, or housing for seasonal work. Check each listing for school-provided pay and whether the school operates under Part 61 or Part 141. These details may not be supplied; any occupational pay estimate is labelled separately.
Read the full regulation: 14 CFR Part 61 Subpart H, Flight Instructors (eCFR)
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