Instruction Policy, Flight & Ground, Darren Smith, Flight Instructor, CFI Homepage


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Flight Instruction Policies

Teaching Beliefs | Policies | Pledge to Students | Bio

Learning to fly requires personal discipline and structure. After obtaining your pilot's certificate, exhibiting a lack of personal responsibility is negligent and could cause the suspension or loss of a certificate or rating. As such, your Flight Instructor is motivated to ensure your success by enforcing certain policies related to professional courtesy in your flight training experience.

Cancellation/No Show Policy
Most CFIs have over $30-40,000 invested in their own flight training. Flight Instructors do not receive compensation to sit at the flight school, only while instructing. Other paid professionals charge fees for canceled and missed appointments, thus the same situation must exist in your flight training experience. As such, a 48-hour cancellation notice is required for all scheduled lessons. If there is inclement weather, the CFI may elect to use the time for ground training.

It's very difficult to cover cancelled appointments and they represent lost income. As such, notification must be received 48 hours prior to the start of the schedule lesson at: ___________. Failure to do so results in a fee equal to one hour of training. This fee would not apply if we were able to fill the slot with another student. The same policy will stand for "no shows". This amount will be invoiced and no further instruction may be taken until payment in full is received. Continued cancellations and "no shows" will result in a charge for the full cost of the time reserved or termination of the student from training.

If your training program requires a deposit, that deposit is applied to the total cost of your training program. The deposit reserves the specific date and training program you contracted for. The balance is due on the first day of training before training begins. If you were loaned electronic media to prepare for your training, that must be returned on the first day of training during your morning orientation. If you are unable to keep your reserved training slot, your deposit can be applied to future training ONLY if your reserved training slot can be filled with another student. As this is a rare occurence, it is strongly suggested that you properly prepare for your training program by following the syllabus supplied to you and then arriving for training the day before it is to start. Your success is directly related to your earnest preparation.

Late Policy
Your Flight Instructor is a professional and will try to maximize your learning opportunities during the scheduled lesson time. Your lesson starts at the time you scheduled it. If you're late, you are paying for your instructor's time whether you arrive as scheduled or 15 minutes late.
Example: Lesson scheduled 2pm - 4pm. Aircraft time used is 1.4 hours. Total charges include 0.6 ground instruction, 1.4 flight instruction, and 1.4 aircraft rental. In this example, the student can save money, maximizing their ground instruction by preflighting the aircraft prior to the 2pm start time. Why pay a flight instructor to watch you perform the preflight inspection?

Payment for Services Rendered
Payment for flight time, instructor services, ground school, or supplies is expected in full at the time of receipt. A returned check fee of $50/occurrence is in effect at all times. Savvy students use AOPA credit cards that come with a 3-5% rebate for flight instruction costs.

Passengers
There are certain times when a pilot/student wishes to bring a passenger along. This is perfectly acceptable if the nature of the training session would permit an aft CG. I have had some students want to bring a passenger each and every time they fly. This is not acceptable. If training for two pilot/students is required, then it would be priced as such.

Aircraft Cleanliness
Owners of training aircraft have made a considerable investment in their aircraft to provide you with a pleasant, safe flight experience. As such, you are required to keep the interiors clean and free of soda cans, food wrappers, oily rags, etc. Should you or a passenger become airsick, please ensure that you thoroughly clean the airplane. If a professional cleaning is necessary, you are expected to provide this. Spare oil and the oil spout should be kept only in the provided preflight box. Please leave the aircraft neat for the next pilot.

I have received a copy of these policies:

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Date Student Signature

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