Flight Instructor FAQs

To earn an airplane flight instructor certificate (CFI), the FAA requires you to:

• Be at least 18 years old.
• Read, speak, write, and understand English.
• Hold a commercial pilot certificate (or ATP) with an instrument rating and the airplane class you'll teach in.
• Log at least 15 hours as pilot in command in that airplane category and class.
• Pass two FAA knowledge tests: fundamentals of instructing (FOI) and flight instructor airplane (FIA).
• Get your instructor's logbook endorsements, including the spin training endorsement.
• Pass the CFI practical test, also called the checkride.

Most commercial pilots already meet the first four. For the full path in order, read our guide on how to become a flight instructor.

Initial airplane CFI candidates take two knowledge tests: the FOI and the FIA. The FOI covers how people learn, teaching methods, lesson planning, and evaluating students. The FIA covers the technical flying knowledge you'll teach. You can skip the FOI if you're already a flight or ground instructor, a state-certified teacher for 7th grade or higher, or a teacher at an accredited college or university.

Your results are good for 24 calendar months, so plan your checkride inside that window. We help you time your tests so they don't run out while you're still training.

CFI training teaches you to fly and teach from the right seat. With us, plan on about 15 hours of right-seat flying, plus ground work building and teaching your own lesson plans. The FAA sets no minimum number of CFI training hours, so your progress depends on how quickly you get ready to teach.

Your CFI checkride is graded against the FAA's Flight Instructor Airman Certification Standards. Expect to teach the examiner on the ground and in the air. Our guide to the CFI checkride walks through what examiners look for.

CFI training cost comes down to a few line items: aircraft time, instructor and ground time, knowledge test fees, the examiner's fee, the airplane for your checkride, study materials, and spin training. Because the FAA sets no training-hour minimum, your total depends on where you're starting and how fast you get ready.

We build your quote around your logbook, so contact us through our instructor training page. Our guide on what drives CFI training cost explains each line item, and financing options may be available to qualified applicants through the partners on our financing page.

The CFI lets you teach within your ratings, such as private and commercial students in single-engine airplanes. The CFII adds instrument instruction, and you need it to give the instrument training for an instrument rating and the instrument training commercial and ATP applicants need. Adding the CFII takes one more knowledge test, and you don't retake the FOI. The CFII checkride still runs on the FAA's older Practical Test Standards format.

Most pilots go CFI, then CFII, then MEI, though the FAA doesn't require that order. Our CFI vs CFII vs MEI guide helps you decide which rating to earn first.

For the MEI, you need a multi-engine rating on your commercial certificate and at least 15 hours as pilot in command in multi-engine airplanes. Adding the MEI to an airplane CFI usually takes no new knowledge test. To teach toward a rating in a twin, you'll also need at least 5 hours as pilot in command in that make and model.

If you don't have your multi-engine rating yet, our multi-engine rating program runs seven days in our Piper Twin Comanche, so the time you fly is in the same airplane our multi students train in.