Faster Pathways to High-Paying Aviation Careers

As the traditional school year is about to get underway, it is likely that parents of high school students are having some serious discussions about what the child will do after graduation.

Ostensibly the benefit of post-secondary education is to enable the student to get a job. However, traditional college academic degrees no longer guarantee a job, and the higher-paying professions, such as those in the medical field, require multiple years of study, often resulting in a large debt. Therefore it may be several years before a return on investment (ROI) can be seen. 

It is a different story if you pursue a career as an aviation maintenance technician, according to Robert Renfro, vice president of marketing for US Aviation Academy. The academy, established in 2006, offers training for pilots and aviation maintenance technicians (AMTs) at 10 U.S. locations.

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Renfro pointed to reports that list the top 10 paying jobs in the U.S., which includes pilot and aviation maintenance technician.

“All [those] other [high-paying] career fields are medical and require six to eight years of education,” Renfro said. “I think pilot was No. 8. It is pretty astounding for something that can be done in a year’s time of education. On the AMT side, a technical program can be completed in as little as eight months, for less than $40,000.”

The AMT graduates hired at an air carrier can make $100,000 a year fresh out of training, Renfro said.

It is a little more challenging for pilots, most of whom become flight instructors to build their experience. To be considered for jobs at most airlines, the applicant needs to have at least 1,500 hours and qualify for the Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) certificate. Those hours need to be a specific combination of daytime, nighttime, instrument time, multiengine, and cross-country experience.

When the airlines cut back on hiring, those with flight instructor jobs do not move on as quickly, and the freshly graduated instructors find themselves scrambling for scarce positions.

In the past there was an emphasis on fast-track training, but that is no longer the cause, according to Renfro. He noted that only about 30 percent of CFIs who train at accelerated schools are hired at that same school after graduation. 

“I was just at an Oshkosh, where I probably had 100 CFIs come by and drop their résumé off and say, ‘I went through a fast-track program, and they’re telling me they’re not going to hire for a year to two years.’ The fastest route to getting your ratings isn’t going to mean anything if you can’t get a job. It isn’t just getting the certificates. The schools need to provide guidance on what their career path is going to look like after that.”

Renfro said the busier the school, the more jobs there are. He said the pilot applicants that go through US Aviation Academy have a better chance at being hired internally because the school has the contract for the Initial Pilot Training (IPT) for the U.S. Air Force. 

“We have been doing it for about a year and a half now,” he said. “We are training 800 to 1,000 for the Air Force IPT,” he said. “We’ve already got 600 of them through the program and on the way to their next phase of training.”

The CFI training program is structured so the US Aviation Academy CFI applicants are put through standardization as part of their training, so they can move right into the IPT program if there is an opening.

The instructors at US Aviation Academy average 420 hours in their first year as a CFI. The pay is the industry standard, according to Renfro, at approximately $25 to $35 per hour. As their experience grows they also have the opportunity to move into check airman positions in the program. The school has airline partnership programs with Southwest, United, Envoy, Gojet, Endeavor, and Sun Country, which do cadet programs or hiring on-site.

The school sports a fleet of 375 aircraft made up of Cessna 172s, Cessna 152s, Tecnam 2010s, and Tecnam 2006Ts for the multi-engine training. Pilots are also encouraged to use the school’s advanced aviation training device (AATD) at no cost to maintain proficiency.

“We maximize AATD to 141 requirements,” Renfro said. “We have Redbird simulators. We are adding AlSim next year, and we are the launch customer for Textron’s new Level 7 simulator that is coming out next year. We will be the first flight school to bring that level of simulator to the training market.”

For  candidates who do not want to be CFIs but aim to be airline pilots, the company has a partnership with Bridge Air.

“They are a low-cost time builder for pilots who want to just build on their own to get 1,500 hours.” Renfro said.

Epic Flight Academy

Epic Flight Academy (EFA) is another option for pilot and AMT training. The school, established in 1999 in New Smyrna, Florida, now has campuses all over the country.

Cindy Lovell, director of education at EFA, said the school routinely hires its graduates for internal positions when there are openings in both the maintenance and pilot programs. She said it helps maintain the standardization of training.

“One of our maintenance graduates is currently instructing at our New Smyrna Beach Part 147 school,” Lovell said. “And 100 percent of the flight instructors we hire have been trained at Epic. We currently complete about 1,600 certificates a year. Based on enrollment, we’ll be at 2,000 annually within a year. Of course, some students earn several [certifications]—others earn just one.”

Turnover, and therefore openings at the flight school, are based on when pilots reach the 1,500-hour mark and become airline eligible. EFA has “pipeline” programs for the airline-bound, such as United Aviate, Envoy’s Cadet Program, Bridge Air Program (Mesa and Republic), and the Alpine Air Express Pilot Pathway Program.

Lovell noted that Epic Flight Academy regularly hosts career seminars and open house events for aviation and aerospace companies, so it is not uncommon for students to have jobs lined up before they graduate.

Cost of Education

To become a professional pilot from zero time to multi-engine instructor costs approximately $100,000 to $115,000 but can be substantially higher depending on weather, frequency of flying, aircraft availability, and aptitude. 

Depending on the type of school the learner attends, from the mom-and-pop local airport to a college or university program or aviation-specific academy, there may be options for scholarships or training-specific loans.

On average, it takes about two years to reach airline hiring minimums at a busy flight school. The industry standard for first-year first officer pay at a regional airline is approximately $85,000 to $105,000 annually.

The cost of training to become an aviation maintenance technician runs the gamut from approximately $8,000 to $58,000, depending on the length of the program and if the learner is required to supply their own tools. The program length can range from a few months to a few years.

Those with AMT also may find themselves courted by industries outside the aviation world. It is not uncommon for automotive, maritime, and manufacturing companies to attend aviation job fairs looking for new talent.