Get Paid to Fly While You Build Airline Hours
Earning your flight instructor certificates is the smartest move on the road to the airlines. As a CFI, you get paid to fly, build hours fast, and become a sharper pilot with every lesson you teach. And at LA Flight School, qualified graduates have a direct path to being hired here as paid instructors — turning your training into a job.
What Are the CFI, CFII, and MEI?
These three instructor certificates let you teach — and get paid — at increasing levels:
- CFI (Certified Flight Instructor) — teach private and commercial students
- CFII (Certified Flight Instructor – Instrument) — teach instrument students
- MEI (Multi-Engine Instructor) — teach in twins, build multi-engine time, and earn higher pay
You can earn them as a package or individually. Together, they make you employable across the widest range of students and are the fastest legal way to build the hours the airlines require.
The Airline Hour-Builder — and a Job
Instructing is how most professional pilots reach the 1,500 hours required for the airlines, and it pays you while you do it. Teaching also makes you a better pilot: explaining maneuvers and catching students' mistakes deepens your own mastery. Best of all, LA Flight School hires its own qualified graduates as paid flight instructors — a guaranteed-job pathway that ties directly into our Accelerated Airline Career Track.
What You Need to Earn Them
- Hold a Commercial Pilot Certificate (plus an Instrument Rating for CFI/CFII)
- Be at least 18 years old
- Be able to read, speak, and understand English
- Hold a current FAA medical certificate
- Pass the Fundamentals of Instructing (FOI) and the applicable instructor written exams
- Complete ground and flight training and receive an endorsement
- Pass the CFI practical test (checkride)
Learn to Teach the Right Way
You will master lesson planning, the fundamentals of instruction, and the ability to demonstrate and explain every maneuver from the right seat. Our continuous commercial-through-CFI program lets career students flow straight from their commercial certificate into instructing without downtime. Train in the Diamond DA20, Cessna 172, and Cirrus SR22, backed by our Redbird simulator.
CFI / CFII / MEI Cost in Los Angeles
$15,900 Full CFI/CFII/MEI program including flight and ground instruction plus lesson-planning materials. Offered as a package or individually. Financing available.
Price note: $15,900 is carried from the Essence theme page (GBP had no price listed). Verify LA Flight School's real instructor-program price before publishing.
Flight Instructor Questions
Do you really hire your own graduates?
Yes. Qualified graduates of our instructor program have a direct pathway to being hired as paid flight instructors at LA Flight School, which is how many build hours toward the airlines.
What is the difference between CFI, CFII, and MEI?
CFI lets you teach private and commercial students, CFII lets you teach instrument students, and MEI lets you teach in multi-engine aircraft. Each adds earning potential and the range of students you can train.
Do I need a commercial certificate first?
Yes. You must hold a Commercial Pilot Certificate (and an Instrument Rating for CFI/CFII) before earning your instructor certificates.
How does instructing help my airline goals?
Instructing pays you while you build the flight time airlines require, and teaching sharpens your own flying. It is the most common and cost-effective route to 1,500 hours.
Do you offer financing?
Yes. Pay the school directly with interest-free installments, or finance long-term through our lending partner.
Complete the Ladder
Flight instructor training builds on your Commercial Pilot License. Add a Multi-Engine Rating for your MEI and an Instrument Rating for your CFII. It all feeds the Accelerated Airline Career Track. Book a free consultation or return to the LA Flight School home page.
Start Your Instructor Training
Ready to get paid to fly and build airline hours? Book a free consultation and we will map your CFI/CFII/MEI path — and the hiring pathway that follows.