Training and Workforce
Flyers’ online FIRC does not soar above the rest
A majority of professional pilots have earned a flight instructor rating as the first stepping stone on their aviation career path.

A majority of professional pilots have earned a flight instructor rating as the first stepping stone on their aviation career path. However, keeping that hard-achieved rating means religiously renewing it every two years. And since most business aviation pilots aren’t active flight instructors (or active enough to meet the student pass rate requirements in FAR 61.197), that means either taking a checkride with an FAA examiner or completing a 16-hour CFI refresher course.

While one can take a checkride with an examiner to renew, most pilots opt for the less-painful route of taking a CFI refresher course. However, a 16-hour renewal program isn’t exactly a free ride, either.