Thu Jun 21, 2018 11:09 am
#1619416
Instructors are paid below minimum wage almost everywhere in the Western World.
I once raised this question with COPA...
COPA passed this on to ATAC which represents the employers in the industry in Canada, and I was mentioned in their annual meeting...
Who’d want to employ a trouble maker like me?
I have not renewed my membership of COPA since.
To gain satisfaction I would have had to complain to the authorities about the company that employed me... Who wants that on their record when applying for a job?
The President of ATAC at the time ran the biggest school, with the tattiest aeroplanes, and told me they had an agreement with the Canadian Government to enable them to pay below the legal minimum. They had to compete with American schools...
Schools there charged the lowest rates to attract students. But this was at the cost of quality.
You do not get the best out of a hungry employee.
If you want quality you need to choose the best, and develop their abilities, and pay them enough.
I visited WLAC who paid £500 a month to their instructors and then a rising hourly rate. Good.
In Canada I managed to start the school with Class III instructors and up getting a monthly ‘base pay’, and everyone getting $25 an hour which was slightly above the average hourly pay. Together with the base pay this was better than anywhere else.
But one instructor was lazy, and later he was caught with his hand in the till so to speak. Reducing the amount of declared simulator training, and charging directly for briefing times.
This blew it for everyone and now the school pays the same as anyone else.
I tried.
Developing their abilities meant occasional flights with each instructor to increase their skills.
Doing a dual Mountain Flight to ensure that what was taught met with the Chief Instructors requirements etc...
Most instructors are left to their own devices and so standards drop. Not at my school.
Flying the DA42... Each instructor had to have ten hours on it to be able to teach in it... I did many ‘student’ flights with them.
And, having fun, it’s a job, but it is fun too!
At my school the tea was to a high standard, not a tea bag in a mug of hot water! Scolded pot, heated cups, boiling water. Choccie biccies...
I had the boss of another place around for tea and Penguins from time to time. He wanted to learn how I managed to keep instructors.
If you treat people well they stay.
If you work with them they improve.
If you do this the students have little to complain about.
If you do this the school is a safer operation.
Think about it. How much maintenance is saved if people learn to keep the weight off the nosewheel taxying on the grass?
I went to fly a Cessna 152 but the pitot cover was missing and a bug had made its residence there. The aeroplane was snagged. I poked the bug out with a bit of grass. The pitot was now clear, and so I placed the pitot cover on. Can’t fly, the aeroplane was snagged, an engineer would have to sign it off... Expense.
Quality instruction means less maintenance releasing funds for something else.
I picked up a new pitot cover and placed it on the pitot of the Warrior I flew recently... I put my money where my mouth is sometimes.
Happy people are motivated to do their best for you.
Weed out the bad apples though.
The best Chief Flying Instructor is one who oversees everything, and most importantly exudes enthusiasm for what we do.
It’s people more than price that attracts customers to flying.
MichaelP
Wandering the World