Program instructor vs flight instructor

The differences between program instructors and flight instructors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a program instructor and a flight instructor. Additionally, a flight instructor has an average salary of $51,324, which is higher than the $42,380 average annual salary of a program instructor.

The top three skills for a program instructor include patients, K-12 and math. The most important skills for a flight instructor are aircraft systems, syllabus, and CFI.

Program instructor vs flight instructor overview

	Program Instructor	Flight Instructor
Yearly salary	$42,380	$51,324
Hourly rate	$20.38	$24.68
Growth rate	2%	2%
Number of jobs	92,369	25,735
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age	46	46
Years of experience	4	4

What does a program instructor do?

A program instructor is responsible for facilitating indoor and outdoor programs with various goals and objectives catering to different participants. Program instructors must have excellent communication skills, especially on gaining the participants' attention and engaging them to join the activities prepared for the day. They also maintain a safe and creative learning environment for everyone, observing each participant's behavior and interests, developing group cooperation, and fostering personal development. A program instructor reiterates safety procedures and regulations during the program for everyone's strict compliance and immediately addresses conflicts soon as they arise.

What does a flight instructor do?

A Flight Instructor is responsible for teaching students how to fly aircrafts. They prepare lesson plans and evaluate and monitor students performance.

Program instructor vs flight instructor salary

Program instructors and flight instructors have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Program Instructor	Flight Instructor
Average salary	$42,380	$51,324
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $60,000	Between $32,000 And $80,000
Highest paying City	Urban Honolulu, HI	Atwater, CA
Highest paying state	Hawaii	California
Best paying company	Los Alamos National Laboratory	Cirrus Aircraft
Best paying industry	Education	Manufacturing

Differences between program instructor and flight instructor education

There are a few differences between a program instructor and a flight instructor in terms of educational background:

	Program Instructor	Flight Instructor
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 58%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common major	Psychology	Aviation
Most common college	University of Pennsylvania	Stanford University

Program instructor vs flight instructor demographics

Here are the differences between program instructors' and flight instructors' demographics:

	Program Instructor	Flight Instructor
Average age	46	46
Gender ratio	Male, 39.7% Female, 60.3%	Male, 90.9% Female, 9.1%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 7.3% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 10.4% Asian, 11.2% White, 65.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%	Black or African American, 7.0% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 9.9% Asian, 11.4% White, 66.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%
LGBT Percentage	16%	16%

Differences between program instructor and flight instructor duties and responsibilities

Program instructor example responsibilities.

Facilitate, manage and implement each classroom student's IEP
Lead DCMA personnel consolidation plan to increase synergies and communication amongst the teams.
Manage groups of kids on a daily basis in the field to ensure safety while participating in activities.
Assist in achieving and maintaining DoD certification and national accreditation where applicable.
Perform general maintenance work including HVAC, electrical, refrigeration and plumbing.
Assist high school students with math, computers science and computer programming (Java).

Flight instructor example responsibilities.

Manage the daily maintenance efforts for 9 P-3C aircraft to meet short and long range flight tasking.
Manage and monitor all flight systems and electrical in-flight avionics of various commercial aircraft equipment types.
Conduct training using, CBT, stand-up lectures, PowerPoint, Wicat 2D FMS, and FTD trainers.
Diagnose, troubleshoot malfunctions and perform extensive maintenance operational checks on all systems.
Create and maintain training records for USAF students.
Maintain relationships with both local DPE's and FBO managers.

Program instructor vs flight instructor skills

Common program instructor skills

Patients, 25%
K-12, 15%
Math, 11%
Mathematics, 9%
Excellent Interpersonal, 8%
CPR, 4%

Common flight instructor skills

Aircraft Systems, 9%
Syllabus, 8%
CFI, 8%
Flight Operations, 6%
Training Programs, 5%
PowerPoint, 5%

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Program Instructor
Program Instructor vs Flight Instructor

Updated January 8, 2025

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