Certified Flight Instructor

About Pilot Lounge

Pilot Lounge Flight Sim for Kids is a flight simulation experience center and youth aviation education program based in Redondo Beach, California. We operate professional-grade General Aviation simulators - full cockpit panels featuring dual Garmin G1000 glass cockpit displays, analog backup instruments, force-feedback yoke, throttle quadrant, and rudder pedals - in a retail environment designed to make aviation accessible, exciting, and real for everyone who walks through our doors.

We run a 16-week Virtual Private Pilot ground school curriculum fully aligned with the FAA Aeronautical Knowledge Standards (ACS), and serve youth ages 7–16. Our mission is to build the next generation of aviation professionals, and we need exceptional instructors to make it happen.

The Role

As a Pilot Lounge CFI, you are part educator, part mentor, part aviation ambassador. You are not flying students around a traffic pattern - you are teaching the science, systems, regulations, and decision-making that make a safe, confident pilot. Your primary tools are the classroom, the whiteboard, and five high-grade simulator stations.

Your primary students are kids and young adults who may never have sat in a real cockpit - and your job is to make them believe they can.

This is not a traditional flight school CFI role. It is a new learning environment focused on fostering the interest kids have in aviation. If you love aviation, and believe that access to aviation should not depend on zip code - this is your job.

What You'll Do

Ground School Instruction

• Deliver structured ground school lessons from the Pilot Lounge 16-week curriculum covering aerodynamics, aircraft systems, instruments, airspace, weather, navigation, FARs, performance, and cross-country planning

Simulator Instruction

• Conduct structured simulator sessions on the Desktop Pilot GA simulator stations — brief students before every session, actively coach during flight, debrief with specific feedback after

Flex days

Available for makeup sessions, placement assessments, open sim supervision

Requirements & Preferred Qualifications

Required — Must Have

• FAA Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) certificate - current
• Comfortable with General Aviation glass cockpit (Garmin G1000 or equivalent)
• Strong verbal communication skills - able to explain concepts to ages 7–16
• Reliable and punctual - cohort students depend on consistent scheduling
• Able to pass a background check

Preferred — Nice to Have

• Experience teaching youth or underserved communities
• Familiarity with MSFS 2020 or X-Plane desktop simulation
• Experience with FAA Part 141 or Part 61 syllabus development
• Prior experience as ground school instructor or aviation camp counselor
• Social media presence in the aviation community
• Instrument Instructor (CFII) rating - or actively pursuing