In aviation, we are taught fundamental principles: speak up, question norms that compromise safety, and protect people before ego.

This article addresses a subject that is deeply important to me and occupies much of my thoughts.

In August 2018, I obtained my flight instructor rating, and since then I have taught with passion to many students. I worked full-time as a flight instructor for four years. Years during which my social life outside of work almost disappeared – working two weeks straight, sometimes more, without days off, often 12 hours or more per day. Balancing family life with lesson preparation – unpaid. Spending 12 hours or more at the school (8 a.m. to midnight) to be paid, at best, for 6-8 hours total. Working in +35°C as well as -35°C. Constantly thinking about my students and my schedule, being creative in managing expectations and filling the gaps that weather, mechanical issues, and last-minute cancellations created in my calendar — all in an effort to optimize my income. At the peak of my creativity and talent: $35,000 per year, working relentlessly. Especially on holidays, evenings, and weekends — when students prefer to fly.

To exercise the privileges of a flight instructor, you must first become a professional pilot. We are talking about $100,000–$150,000 in training. The instructor rating costs an additional $12,000–$15,000 depending on the location, aircraft, and training environment.

Across Canada, some flight schools are built on values of quality, community, and passion for aviation. These environments have fostered deep attachment among many employees, past and present, who invested themselves fully. What I observe today is not unique to one school but reflects a broader reality within the flight training environment.

What we all share — students, members, and employees — is a love of flying.

What distinguishes employees from those who participate as students or members is not greater passion, but the decision to go further. We chose to turn that passion into work. We chose to dedicate our time, our energy, and a significant part of our professional lives to it.

For many of us (I speak primarily as a flight instructor), this work is, above all, a labor of passion. It is not work that makes you wealthy. Often, it barely allows you to make ends meet. And yet we are present — with rigor, professionalism, and a smile. We offer the best of ourselves so that others may learn, progress, and flourish in this shared passion for aviation. This passion should be better compensated so that even those who are deeply passionate can earn a living and live with dignity.

Flight training is not the work of a single role. It is a collective effort.

Flight instructors carry the responsibility of transmitting skills, judgment, discipline, and safe decision-making — often under pressure. Dispatchers ensure aircraft availability, documentation, scheduling, and the fluidity of daily operations. Ramp attendants directly contribute to safety through ground handling and operational vigilance. Administrative staff ensure organizational continuity — compliance, finances, communications, and stability. Chief flight instructors and supervising instructors are responsible for oversight, mentorship, standardization, and safety culture.

Every role matters.
Every role contributes to safety.
Every role deserves respect.

Flight instruction is not limited to teaching maneuvers. It is built on responsibility, judgment, mentorship, and safety. It demands human presence, professional integrity, and deep respect for the people occupying the various seats that make up aviation — on the ground and in the air.

Behind every lesson, every booking, every first solo or license obtained, there is a team. There is unpaid preparation, stress carried in silence, significant professional responsibility, and constant vigilance in matters of safety.

What I describe here is not unique to a single flight school. Similar realities exist in many training organizations. The truth is simple: the way employees — particularly those responsible for training and operations — are valued must change.

When employees feel ignored, unsupported, replaceable, or dismissed, it affects far more than morale. It impacts retention, training continuity, decision quality, and ultimately, safety. As Stephen Covey so aptly stated: “When trust goes down, speed goes down and costs go up.”

When employees are respected, treated fairly, and recognized as professionals, the quality of instruction improves — and so does the safety culture.

Millions of people are willing to buy fair-trade coffee. A major advertising campaign targeted us years ago to promote its virtues. Minimum wage is enshrined in Canadian law. Yet we accept that highly educated individuals with critical responsibilities are underpaid. Some must work seven days a week or hold a second job simply to cover basic living necessities.

This letter is not written in anger. It is written out of concern — and out of a sense of responsibility.

Concern for an environment that matters deeply to me.
Concern for a profession that carries immense responsibility.
Concern for the future of flight training.

This is therefore a call to action — simple, but necessary.

If this message resonates with you, share it. Discuss it with other students, instructors, employees, or friends in aviation. Use your voice, your position, or your influence — however modest — to encourage respectful, professional, and equitable treatment of those who dedicate their professional lives to flight training. Share your ideas for solutions. Share your experience when you learned to fly, or if you are currently in a school, your past and present experiences with flight instructors. Let us raise our voices to affirm that this is more than “just” an instructor. It is a professional who dedicates energy, time, and resources to the ecosystem that contributes to everyone’s safety — and to general aviation as a whole.

Remaining silent, even unintentionally, often amounts to acceptance.

And acceptance allows unhealthy practices to persist.

If you wish to share your reflections, experiences, or comments, you are invited to do so. You may leave a public comment to foster collective reflection, or contact me privately if you prefer a more confidential exchange. Dialogue is an integral part of cultural evolution.

We need one another.

Be the change you want to see in the world. – Mahatma Gandhi

Do we not all want safer skies? Quality instruction? And an environment where our children — the next generation of pilots — will grow within a culture that is fair, professional, and respectful?

We are here because we love to fly. We stay because we believe in it. Let us speak up today because what our love of aviation deserves is attention — and courage.

Cet article est disponible en français.