Flight Instructor
Also known as: Assistant Flight Instructor · Flying Instructor · CFI
Teaches student pilots to fly at a flying school after earning an instructor rating.
Starting salary: not added yet.
What you’d do
A flight instructor teaches student pilots to fly at a flying school. DGCA-approved flying training organisations hire them. A typical day involves ground briefings, instructional flights with students, and debriefs and training records.
- Give ground classes on flying theory
- Fly training sorties with student pilots
- Assess student progress and readiness
- Keep training records and logbooks
How you get in
A Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL) from DGCA is the requirement, not a degree. It needs Class 12 with Physics and Maths (these can be added later through NIOS), a DGCA Class 1 medical, passes in the DGCA ground exams (Air Navigation, Meteorology, Air Regulations, Technical) plus a radio telephony licence, and about 200 hours of flying at a DGCA-approved flying school. After the CPL, extra instructor training and a DGCA flight test lead to an instructor rating.
Salary in India
Salary data isn’t added for this role yet. When it is, every figure points to its source.
Skills you’ll use
From our guide · a curated list is coming
- Teaching flying skills step by step
- Briefing and debriefing students
- Judging when a student is ready to solo
- Keeping training records
- Staying calm and alert in the cockpit
About this field · for freshers
Job openings by year
Is demand growing?
Not added yet.
Competition2
How many graduates enter each year?
B.Sc (all subjects) graduates in 2023-24 at institutions that reported to AISHE — everyone finishing that degree, not only those entering this role.
Who hires
IT firms, banks, government, startups?
Not added yet.
Where the jobs are
Which cities?
Not added yet.
Women in the field2
Is it diverse?
Share of women among B.Sc (all subjects) graduates in 2023-24 — the entry degree, not people already working in this role.
At a glance
- Many pilots instruct to build flying hours before moving to airlines or charter work.
- Experienced instructors can become chief flight instructors or examiners.
- Work depends on weather and flying school schedules.
- Most flying schools are in smaller towns with suitable airfields.
Stay safe
No legitimate employer ever asks you to pay to get a job.