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Flight Instructor Jobs · Van Nuys Airport (KVNY)
CFI Jobs In Los Angeles: How Flight Instructor Jobs Work
A CFI job is the first paid flying job most professional pilots hold. You teach at a flight school, a club, a university or on your own. You are usually paid for each hour of flight and ground instruction you give. And you build the 1,500 hours the airlines require while you do it. This page covers where flight instructor jobs are, how the pay is structured, with 2026 market figures, what hiring schools check and how to get hired. LA Flight School hires CFIs at Van Nuys, so if you are an instructor looking for a seat, call us.
We Hire CFIs At Van NuysPart 61 · 20+ AircraftCFI · CFII · MEIOpen 9am–9pm, Seven Days
8 hrsmaximum flight training a CFI may give in any 24 consecutive hours, 14 CFR 61.195(a)
60–90hours a month a full-time instructor typically logs, per our CFI pay page
1,500hours of total time for an ATP certificate, 14 CFR 61.159(a)
5.0★from 120+ Google reviews at Van Nuys
Where The Jobs Are
Where Flight Instructor Jobs Are: Six Kinds Of Employer
Most CFI jobs are at flight schools, but not all flight schools hire the same way. Who you work for decides how you are paid, what you teach and how fast your logbook fills.
Part 61 Flight Schools
Schools like ours that train under 14 CFR Part 61. The syllabus is the school’s own, schedules flex around students who work, and instructors often teach everything from discovery flights to commercial maneuvers. Many flight instructor jobs in Los Angeles are at Part 61 schools.
Part 141 Flight Schools
Schools with an FAA-approved training course under 14 CFR Part 141. The syllabus, stage checks and record keeping are tighter, and instructors teach to it exactly. Good training in standardization, which airline interviewers like.
Large Academies And Airline Programs
National academies hire instructors in volume and teach to one standardized syllabus. Some airline career programs also recruit working CFIs: Delta’s Propel program has a Collegiate & CFI path for instructors who are actively instructing and within 12 months of R-ATP or ATP minimums.
University Aviation Programs
Colleges with flight programs hire their own graduates as instructors. The work follows the academic calendar, and the degree programs can lead to a restricted ATP at 1,000 or 1,250 hours under 14 CFR 61.160.
Flying Clubs And FBOs
Clubs and fixed-base operators use staff or contract instructors for checkouts, flight reviews and members’ ratings. Volume is lower, the flying is more varied, and many instructors here work part time.
Freelance Instruction
You teach in the student’s own aircraft and set your own rate. It suits experienced CFIs and aircraft owners’ flight reviews and instrument proficiency checks. Check your insurance and the owner’s policy before you fly.
Two related jobs show up in the same searches. A ground instructor job needs a ground instructor certificate under 14 CFR Part 61, Subpart I, and teaches knowledge-test material on the ground; it builds no flight time. And some schools hire simulator instructors for full-motion or desktop training devices. Both are useful work. Only flight instruction moves you toward 1,500 hours.
Flight Instructor Pay
How CFI Jobs Pay: Per Hour, Per Month Or Salary
Most flight instructors are paid per hour of instruction they actually give, not per hour they are at the airport. The rate matters less than how many of those hours you fill.
Per-hour pay is the usual model. You are paid one rate for flight instruction and often a separate rate for ground instruction and simulator time. When a student cancels, the hour is not paid. That is why two CFIs at the same school, on the same rate, can earn very different amounts.
Some schools pay a salary or a monthly figure. Large academies sometimes pay a set amount based on expected volume, plus bonuses. ATP Flight School, for example, publishes an estimate of about $3,200 to $4,000 a month for roughly 70 hours of flight instruction, 20 hours of simulator instruction and two or three checkride passes a month, and says pay varies by training center.
Freelance CFIs set their own rate. That rate has to cover your time, your insurance and the hours you spend driving and briefing.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish a separate figure for flight instructors. It counts them under commercial pilots, whose median pay was $123,220 in May 2025. That figure includes charter, corporate and other flying and is not a CFI wage. For what instructors actually earn in Los Angeles, see our CFI pay and career path page.
| Source | Published Figure | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Indeed, flight instructor | $28.28 an hour average, from 323 job postings over 36 months | Updated 4 Oct 2026 |
| ZipRecruiter, certified flight instructor (CFI) | $45.49 an hour average | 30 Aug 2026 |
| ATP Flight School CFI employment page | About $3,200–$4,000 a month at roughly 70 flight + 20 sim hours | Checked Oct 2026 |
| BLS, commercial pilots (includes CFIs) | $123,220 median annual pay | May 2025 data |
ZipRecruiter also shows an annual figure of $94,620, which is its hourly average times a 2,080-hour work year. Instructors are rarely paid for 2,080 hours, so read the hourly figure, not the annual one. None of these figures is LA Flight School pay.
Hours And Time
How Many Hours A CFI Logs, And How Long To 1,500
A full-time instructor typically logs 60 to 90 hours a month. From a 250-hour commercial certificate, that closes the 1,250-hour gap to the ATP minimum in roughly 14 to 21 months, with 12 to 18 months the usual range at a busy, year-round field.
| The Number | Figure | Where It Comes From |
|---|---|---|
| Total time at your commercial certificate | 250 hours | 14 CFR 61.129 |
| Total time for an unrestricted ATP | 1,500 hours | 14 CFR 61.159(a) |
| The gap you close by instructing | 1,250 hours | Arithmetic |
| At 90 hours a month | about 14 months | 1,250 ÷ 90 |
| At 75 hours a month | about 17 months | 1,250 ÷ 75 |
| At 60 hours a month | about 21 months | 1,250 ÷ 60 |
| Most flight training in any 24 hours | 8 hours | 14 CFR 61.195(a) |
Your first months will be slower. A new instructor starts with an empty calendar and fills it as students are assigned and word gets around. ATP Flight School tells its instructor applicants they can reach 1,500 hours in about 18 to 24 months. The difference between 14 months and two years is almost always student volume and weather, not the rate of pay.
The ATP also has sub-totals you must watch from day one: 500 hours cross-country, 100 hours night, 75 hours instrument and 250 hours pilot in command under 61.159(a). Traffic-pattern instruction builds total time quickly and cross-country time slowly. Log them separately and plan a long cross-country most months.
If you hold an aviation degree from an FAA-authorized school, the restricted ATP under 14 CFR 61.160 can bring the target down to 1,000 or 1,250 hours. The full breakdown is on our regional airlines page.
What Schools Check
What Flight Schools Look For When They Hire A CFI
Every school checks the same three things first: the certificates you hold, whether you can use them right now, and whether you can teach. After that, the ratings you add decide how many students you can take.
01
The CFI Certificate
Under 14 CFR 61.183 you must be 18, hold a commercial or ATP certificate with an instrument rating, pass two knowledge tests, hold a spin endorsement under 61.183(i), log 15 hours as pilot in command in the category and class under 61.183(j), and pass the practical test.
02
Current Privileges
Under 14 CFR 61.197 you may exercise instructor privileges only if you met one of its recent-experience requirements within the preceding 24 calendar months. Certificates issued on or after 1 December 2024 carry no expiration date under 61.19(d), but the 24-month recency still applies.
03
Teaching, Not Just Flying
Expect a flight with a senior instructor and a ground lesson you teach on the spot. Bring written lesson plans. Schools hire instructors whose students finish, so a clear debrief matters as much as your landings.
| Rating | What It Lets You Teach | Rule To Know |
|---|---|---|
| CFI — airplane single-engine | Primary, private and commercial single-engine training; solo and checkride endorsements | 61.195(b): only in aircraft for which your instructor certificate carries the category and class |
| CFII — instrument instructor | Instrument rating training and instrument proficiency checks, in the aircraft and in approved training devices | 61.195(c): instrument training requires the instrument rating on your instructor certificate |
| MEI — multi-engine instructor | Multi-engine add-ons and commercial multi-engine training | 61.195(f): at least 5 hours as pilot in command in the make and model before giving that training |
A CFI with only the base certificate can fill a calendar, but only with single-engine students. Holding the CFII and MEI lets a school give you instrument and multi-engine students as well, and those students tend to fly longer lessons. The study guides are on our CFII practical test standards and multi-engine instructor (MEI) pages.
Getting Hired
How To Get A Flight Instructor Job, Step By Step
Most CFIs are hired by a school they already know. The steps below make you the candidate a chief instructor wants to call back.
STEP ONE
Finish The Ratings, Then Add The CFII
The initial CFI comes first. The CFII is an added rating with no second fundamentals of instructing test, and it widens the pool of students a school can give you.
STEP TWO
Build A Folder Of Lesson Plans
One written plan for every task you can be asked to teach, with objective, elements and completion standards. You built many for the checkride; keep them current and bring them.
STEP THREE
Apply Where You Can Fly Year-Round
Weather cancels paid hours. A field with steady flyable weather and steady student demand is worth more than a higher hourly rate at a field that loses winter months.
STEP FOUR
Expect A Standardization Flight
Most schools fly you with a senior instructor and ask you to teach a ground lesson. Prepare as you did for the practical test: the school is checking how you teach as well as how you fly.
STEP FIVE
Ask The Right Questions
How flight, ground and simulator time are paid; what happens when a student cancels; how many students a new instructor gets; how available the aircraft are; and whether you can add the MEI there.
STEP SIX
Log Everything For The ATP
Keep cross-country, night, instrument and pilot-in-command time on separate running totals from month one, so 1,500 total hours is also 1,500 qualifying hours.
Recruiting
We Hire CFIs At Van Nuys
LA Flight School hires flight instructors at Van Nuys Airport (KVNY). If you hold a CFI, and especially a CFII or MEI, and you want to teach in Los Angeles, call (818) 290-8249 or come to 7900 Balboa Blvd. Suite 108A, Van Nuys, CA 91406. We are open 9am to 9pm, seven days. Bring your logbook and certificates.
When we have an opening, we look at our own graduates first, because we already know how they brief and debrief. We also talk to instructors who trained elsewhere. We will tell you on the phone whether we are hiring and what the job involves; we do not publish pay or openings on this page.
What you would teach in: a Part 61 fleet of 20+ aircraft, including five Cessna 162 Skycatchers, the Piper Warrior, Diamond DA20-C1, Piper Arrow, Piper Seminole twin and Cirrus SR22T, plus a full-motion Redbird MCX simulator. Van Nuys averages 355 flyable days a year in our own flyable days study, and it is one of the busiest general aviation airports anywhere, so your students learn real radio work alongside Burbank’s Class C and the Los Angeles Class B.
CFI
Single-Engine Students
Discovery flights, sport, private and commercial training in the Skycatcher, Warrior, DA20 and Arrow.
II
Instrument Students
Instrument rating training in the aircraft and the Redbird MCX.
ME
Multi-Engine Students
Multi-engine add-ons in the Piper Seminole for instructors who hold the MEI.
California
Flight Instructor Jobs In California: What Changes Here
The certificate is federal, so a CFI job in California has the same rules as anywhere else. Two things differ: the weather and the airspace.
More Flyable Days
Paid hours depend on lessons that fly. Southern California inland fields lose summer mornings to the marine layer but few whole days. In our study Van Nuys returned 355 flyable days a year against 277 at Hillsboro, Oregon.
Busier Airspace
Los Angeles instructors teach beside the LAX Class B with Burbank’s Class C next door. New CFIs from quiet fields need a few weeks to get comfortable. Pilots who instruct here arrive at an airline used to busy frequencies.
Many Schools, Many Styles
The Los Angeles basin has Part 61 schools, Part 141 schools, clubs and freelance instructors at several airports. Visit two or three before you accept an offer, and ask each the same questions.
Instructors And Future Instructors
Call About A CFI Job, Or Start The Road To One
If you are a CFI, call and ask for the chief instructor. If you are not yet a CFI, the route runs private, instrument, commercial, then the instructor certificates, and our CFI training page lays it out with prices. A free consultation is the place to start.
7900 Balboa Blvd. Suite 108A, Van Nuys, CA 91406 · (818) 290-8249 · Open 9am–9pm, seven days · 5.0 from 120+ Google reviews
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Bring your logbook. Talk to an instructor about the job or the training at Van Nuys.
FAQ
CFI Jobs And Flight Instructor Jobs, Answered
Start with the flight schools at the airports you can reach every day, because most CFI jobs are filled locally and often by a school's own graduates. Then check flying clubs, FBOs, university flight programs and airline-linked academies. In Los Angeles, LA Flight School hires instructors at Van Nuys Airport: call (818) 290-8249 or visit 7900 Balboa Blvd. Suite 108A with your logbook.
Yes. LA Flight School hires CFIs at Van Nuys Airport, and when an opening comes up we look at our own graduates first. Instructors who trained elsewhere are welcome to call (818) 290-8249 or come in, 9am to 9pm, seven days. We discuss current openings, pay and schedules by phone or in person rather than on the website.
Most CFI jobs pay per hour of instruction given, with flight, ground and simulator time often paid at different rates, and nothing paid when a student cancels. Some large academies pay a monthly figure based on expected volume plus bonuses; ATP Flight School publishes about $3,200 to $4,000 a month at roughly 70 flight and 20 simulator hours. Freelance instructors set their own hourly rate.
Eight hours of flight training in any 24 consecutive hours, under 14 CFR 61.195(a). The limit covers flight training given, not ground instruction or simulator time, and it is a rolling 24-hour window rather than a calendar day. In practice most full-time instructors fly three to four hours a day once briefings, debriefs and cancellations are counted.
No. The base CFI certificate is enough to be hired and to teach single-engine students. The CFII lets a school give you instrument students and instrument proficiency checks, and the MEI lets you teach multi-engine add-ons, which under 14 CFR 61.195(f) also needs 5 hours as pilot in command in that make and model. More ratings usually mean a fuller schedule.
A current instructor certificate, a clean record and evidence you can teach. Expect a standardization flight with a senior instructor and a ground lesson you give on the spot, so bring written lesson plans. Schools also ask about your availability, whether you plan to add the CFII and MEI, and how long you intend to stay before applying to an airline.
Yes. A CFI can teach independently in a student's or owner's aircraft, giving flight reviews, instrument proficiency checks and training toward ratings. You set the rate, but you also handle scheduling, billing and insurance, and you depend on aircraft you do not control. Many freelance CFIs combine it with a school job, especially early on when building hours fast matters most.
A flight instructor holds a CFI certificate under 14 CFR Part 61, Subpart H, and teaches in the aircraft. A ground instructor holds a ground instructor certificate under Subpart I and teaches knowledge-test material on the ground. Ground instructor jobs need no commercial certificate, but they log no flight time, so pilots building toward 1,500 hours look for flight instructor jobs.
Keep Reading
Where To Go Next
Becoming A CFI
Become A Flight Instructor In Los AngelesCertified Flight Instructor: The CFI CertificateCFII Practical Test StandardsMulti-Engine Instructor (MEI)Sources
Sources And Regulations Cited
Regulations link to the current eCFR. Market figures are from the publishers named, as checked on 15 October 2026.
Title 14 CFR
61.19 — Duration Of Certificates61.159 — ATP Aeronautical Experience61.160 — Restricted ATP61.183 — Flight Instructor Eligibility61.195 — Flight Instructor Limitations61.197 — Flight Instructor Recent ExperiencePay figures are third-party market data, not LA Flight School pay, and nothing on this page is an offer of employment. Hours-per-month figures match our CFI pay and career path page. Checked 15 October 2026.
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Over 120 Reviews. 5.0 Stars.
Every review below is real and shown verbatim, in the reviewer’s own words — written by the people who learned to fly here, not by us.
SAFETY FIRST
DISCOVERY FLIGHT
★★★★★
I recently had the chance to take my first-ever discovery flight, and it was nothing short of amazing! From the moment I stepped into the cockpit, the...
SUNSET CIRRUS
★★★★★
It was a great flight! I did a sunset flight and Alex let us fly an awesome. Website was easy to book, and the plane itself was really fun to fly...
FLYING LESSON
★★★★★
We had a great flying lesson with Ralph and came away with a much better understanding of both the aircraft and the principles of flight. Ralph is a...
KIDS LUXURY FLIGHT
★★★★★
I got 2 luxury discovery flights for my kids. I wanted them to have the experience of flying. Our instructor Alex was amazing he made sure they feel...
HONEYMOON SURPRISE
★★★★★
Last minute booking to surprise my wife on our honeymoon. She had no experience with flying and was scared of flying, but Alex was very easygoing and knew...
FULL-MOTION SIM
★★★★★
Amazing flight school in van nuys airport. I have been a student here for the past few months and i could not be happier. I started doing a lot of...
DISCOVERY FOR TWO
★★★★★
I booked a Discovery Flight for Two for my girlfriend's birthday and it was the perfect gift for her. She couldn't have been more excited to get to...
SIMULATORS
★★★★★
Very professional and great airplanes. I love the flight simulators. The pricing is very fair compared to any other flight school
TEEN FIRST LESSON
★★★★★
We gifted our teenage son his first flying lesson. He was so excited! Alex greeted us and gave a reassuring brief that made us all feel comfortable and at...
FIRST-TIME FLYER
★★★★★
Flying is my husband's hobby and I was incredibly anxious and apprehensive about the discovery flight. However, I felt completely safe and at ease once we...
SAFETY FIRST
★★★★★
Very safety and detail oriented. Pre-flight briefing explained everything there was. To my knowledge, this flight school is exceptional in their ability.
DISCOVERY FLIGHT
★★★★★
I recently had the chance to take my first-ever discovery flight, and it was nothing short of amazing! From the moment I stepped into the cockpit, the...
SUNSET CIRRUS
★★★★★
It was a great flight! I did a sunset flight and Alex let us fly an awesome. Website was easy to book, and the plane itself was really fun to fly...
FLYING LESSON
★★★★★
We had a great flying lesson with Ralph and came away with a much better understanding of both the aircraft and the principles of flight. Ralph is a...
KIDS LUXURY FLIGHT
★★★★★
I got 2 luxury discovery flights for my kids. I wanted them to have the experience of flying. Our instructor Alex was amazing he made sure they feel...
HONEYMOON SURPRISE
★★★★★
Last minute booking to surprise my wife on our honeymoon. She had no experience with flying and was scared of flying, but Alex was very easygoing and knew...
FULL-MOTION SIM
★★★★★
Amazing flight school in van nuys airport. I have been a student here for the past few months and i could not be happier. I started doing a lot of...
DISCOVERY FOR TWO
★★★★★
I booked a Discovery Flight for Two for my girlfriend's birthday and it was the perfect gift for her. She couldn't have been more excited to get to...
SIMULATORS
★★★★★
Very professional and great airplanes. I love the flight simulators. The pricing is very fair compared to any other flight school
TEEN FIRST LESSON
★★★★★
We gifted our teenage son his first flying lesson. He was so excited! Alex greeted us and gave a reassuring brief that made us all feel comfortable and at...
FIRST-TIME FLYER
★★★★★
Flying is my husband's hobby and I was incredibly anxious and apprehensive about the discovery flight. However, I felt completely safe and at ease once we...
See Discovery Flight Details — $229
Reviews shown verbatim, exactly as each reviewer published them.
Aviation News
Latest From The Field
Notes from the flight line at Van Nuys — weather, regulation changes, checkride questions and the cost of training, written up as they come.
Van Nuys Airport · KVNY
(818) 290-8249
7900 Balboa Blvd. Suite 108A
Van Nuys, CA 91406 Get directions →
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Los Angeles Flight School7900 Balboa Blvd. Suite 108A
Van Nuys, CA 91406 Get directions →
★★★★★
5.0 · 120+ Google reviews