Here’s How CFI and Your Industry Is Working for You

Become a CFI-I or MEI
Some aviators immediately press on to become a “double-I”, which is a Certified Flight Instructor Instrument certificate (CFII). This allows flight instructors to train students in earning their instrument rating. An instrument rating is often the first advanced work a pilot takes on after earning his or her private certificate. It allows the pilot greater latitude in the weather in which he or she can operate. Obtaining an instrument rating is usually a must for pilots who wish to fly professionally. Those who fly on an amateur basis find much greater freedom in holding an instrument rating.

Since the instrument rating is a popular step for both professionals as well as amateurs, flight instructors with authority from the FAA to guide the educational process are usually in high demand. Many flight schools prefer this qualification when hiring new flight instructors. Before the current pilot shortage, the CFI was often a requirement for new hires.

Less prevalent in flight schools is the Multiengine Instructor Certificate (MEI). This enables flight instructors to conduct training for pilots seeing a multiengine certificate. Because multiengine aircraft tend to be more expensive to operate, earning this certificate can require some financial planning. However, aiming for the MEI good for pilots eager to expand their skills as an instructor and who would like to instruct many types of aircraft. One great advantage of having an MEI is the instructor’s ability to log multiengine time while earning money to do so, which is a critical career advantage.

Find a Flight School Job or Go Independent
With a worldwide pilot shortage, jobs as flight instructors are much easier to find than a few years ago. Some flight instructors are interested in pursuing specialized training in a specific brand of aircraft like Cessna, Cirrus, seaplanes, light sport, etc. Some pilots prefer to become flight instructors as a permanent career while others do so in retirement after many years of flying commercial or military aircraft wither way just pursue your passion. Other flight instructors take on students as side work, either because they work in adjacent aviation positions, such as air traffic control, or to supplement income in non-aviation work.

Flight instructing is also an option for pilots who have lost medical clearance for other aviation work; a flight instructor may give training without a medical certificate if the other pilot is authorized to operate as pilot in command. Flight instructors are authorized to give flight reviews in aircraft for which they are not authorized to be pilot in command.

Moreover, this flexibility allows many pilots to share knowledge and experience in the cockpit who might otherwise find themselves behind a desk. The majority of flight instructors, however, are early-career pilots seeking to build minimum time requirements for airline or commercial work.

Some flight instructors are freelance; they do not work for a flight school and contract directly with their clients. These CFIs are free to set their own schedules and choose where, when, and with whom to work. They must pay their own flight instructor liability insurance and find their own students. This option offers the greatest freedom to a CFI, but also all the risks that self-employment carries.

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RSVP Bay Area: SBA Coronavirus Resources

Hi Everyone,

This email is a little out of the ordinary for me, but I was able to be on a national call yesterday with the administrator of the SBA and the Chamber of Commerce, along with 800 other business owners across the country, and some helpful information came out of it regarding help that is or will be available in short order.

I’m working on using a couple of these programs myself, and since it’s relevant to me, it’s also relevant to you, as we are all small businesses.

As a disclaimer, these are my notes from the call, please be sure to verify as things are changing by the day.

  1. EIDL (Economic Injury Disaster Loans) Loans- this is an existing program and is now approved for all states, as all states are now declared to be in a state of emergency. The emergency loans are streamlined in process compared to a standard 7a loan, and as of now, do NOT require real estate collateral, which they ALWAYS did prior. Limit of $25 Million, rates are 3.75% (I assume that this is 3.75% + prime, which is how the 7a loans work)
  2. Grants- These would be awarded even if you were not eligible for the EIDL or PPP loans, and is a one time grant of $10,000. You must apply for either the PPP or the EIDL loan to qualify. They mentioned these a few times, but were a bit short on details. They made it sound like these would be broadly awarded for those that apply.
  3. PPP Loans (Personal Paycheck Protection Loans)- This is part of the pending legislation, and is up to $10 million in order to maintain payroll and other operating expenses during the outbreak. 8 weeks worth of payroll covered by this loan is forgiven after one year in order to assist businesses in keeping their employees on payroll rather than laying them off.

Other important notes, they are in the process of streamlining the applications to be just 2 pages, making it much simpler.

You can apply for both loan programs, the funds must be for different purposes (I.E. you can’t apply for both and get double funds for payroll, but you can get the EIDL Loan for ongoing things like rent/IT/Phones/etc, and then get the PPP loan for payroll in order to take advantage of the forgiveness program)

The repayment term for these loans is UP to 30 years. Both loans are payment deferred for one year from the date of award.

For existing SBA Loans, disaster loans are currently deferred payments until January 2021, and for 7a loans, they CAN be deferred up to 6 months, preapproved by the SBA (previously it was 3 months, 6 months required additional approval)

Sole proprietors are eligible for these programs in addition to all other business organizations.

More information can be found on the SBA Disaster Recovery site here: https://disasterloan.sba.gov/

And on the Chamber Website here: https://growwithco.com

Finally, there is an excellent spreadsheet with gobs of additional resources if you want to go down that rabbit hole as well. Too many programs to talk about here, but worth a look.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1SRBZE2_6Nftwd02M6Oxj8MoeuZ7y93spXIgIPhkkp2w/htmlview#

As always, if I can be of assistance during this mess, I’m available by phone or email.

Best Regards,

Eric Meyers
President
RSVP Bay Area
925.365.1590

The Carpet and FabriCare Institute