How much does a skydiving instructor make: Hourly wage for Skydiving Instructors

Опубликовано: February 18, 2023 в 9:54 am

Автор: alexxlab

Категории: Miscellaneous

The Salary of Skydiving Tandem Instructors (and How to Earn More)

Become a Skydiving Instructor and Skydive for Free

Once you become a skydiving “D” license holder, you can apply to be a tandem instructor and make a living by jumping out of planes. But what is the salary of a skydiving tandem instructor?

The average salary of a freelance instructor ranges from $20,000 to $40,000 per year depending on the number of jumps. A full-time skydiving tandem instructor is paid around $50,000 per year. Salaries vary widely depending on the location, certifications, skillset, number of jumps, and years in the profession.

Jumping out of a plane at the height of 10,000-15,000 ft while being strapped to tandem students not only is exciting but can also support you financially. Becoming a tandem instructor will allow a person to do what they love—skydiving—and get paid per jump at the same time!

Per-Jump Salary and Annual Salary of a Skydiving Tandem Instructor

Skydiving instructors are paid around $25 and $40 per jump, depending on their location. The reputation of the skydive center also matters since busy dropzones usually offer higher rates for qualified instructors.

If the skydiving company pays instructors on a per jump basis, the instructor should also look for a busy dropzone because he will be able to perform more jumps there than at idle dropzones.

Skydiving companies can gain a reputation by locating themselves in beautiful landscapes and by emphasizing customers’ comfort and fun. Skydiving centers that offer specialized jumps such as HALO jumps or tandem jumps with overweight guests will also attract more customers.

On average, a tandem instructor can earn $50,000 or more if they work full-time, and the salary tends to increase based on the instructor’s certifications, advancement, skillset, number of jumps, and years in the profession. For example, tandem instructors that perform jumps with overweight students are likely to earn more.

The location of the skydiving center also matters a lot – country- and state-wise. According to Salary.com, the average salary of a full-time tandem instructor in California is $50,095, with most of the salaries ranging between $45,743 to $58,926.

For example, cities such as Alviso, Campbell, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Mountain View, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, and San Jose provide the highest average salary for tandem instructors (around $58,926 per year) while other cities in California will offer much lower salaries. This is because the skydiving centers in the aforementioned cities cater to both local and international skydivers.

Freelance tandem instructors will often be paid more per hour because they will be hired on a flexible and part-time basis. A busy freelance instructor can earn around $20,000 to $40,000 per year when he jumps extensively in his free time or during weekends.

Other Income Opportunities for Skydiving Tandem Instructors

Aside from assisting student jumpers during a tandem jump or during “Accelerated Free Fall” courses, instructors can also add more skills and certifications that allow them to work as a videographer during tandem jumps and solo skydives.

Another way for additional income is to become a certified parachute rigger who repackages reserve parachutes every 180 days. According to Ziprecruiter.com, the average salary of a parachute packer is approximately $19.64 an hour, which is equivalent to $3,404 per month.

Some skydiving centers also hire parachute riggers on a parachute basis (often freelance) and pay between $10-15 for each parachute that they packed. This is a good way to earn some extra money during your wait time for the next jump.

Tandem instructors can also advance in their careers by becoming trainers for future skydiving instructors and by consulting bigger companies about aviation and working under pressure. This will also give tandem instructors the skills to start their own skydiving business someday.

Finally, experienced tandem instructors also go on international travels to attend different skydiving competitions and work as coaches for competitive skydivers. However, this is quite a competitive track and the tandem instructor needs to have a lot of experience to succeed.

Requirements and Training Needed to Become a Skydiving Tandem Instructor

Before you can earn money by doing what you love, you need to become a certified tandem instructor. Skydiving tandem instructors do not need to have a high school or college diploma. Rather, they need to show that they have the necessary experience and attitudes to jump with students.

In order to earn their certificate as licensed tandem instructors, they need to complete a specialized training program and they need to be rated by the United States Parachute Association (USPA). Here are the requirements for tandem instructors in one glance:

18 years old or older
Attended the Tandem Training Course
Completed a minimum of 500 jumps (logbook required)
Skydiving “D” license holder or foreign equivalent
Minimum of 3 years in the sport
FAA class 3 medical certificate or foreign equivalent
Hold an Instructional or USPA Coach Rating
Had at least 50 jumps within the last 12 months
Accumulated at least 3 hours of freefall time

The requirements are relatively straightforward except for the tandem training course which includes training by the USPA and by the equipment manufacturer. The tandem course consists of at least three phases and will take 3 to 4 days to complete depending on the weather conditions.

The first day covers ground training and theoretical training such as methods to calm panicking students down. The second day is usually dedicated to more practical activities including evaluation jumps. On the third and fourth day, instructor candidates will complete more jumps – this time with a tandem passenger. In order to pass the course, they need to perform at least 10 jumps with experienced skydivers as their passengers.

Sometimes the other requirements also seem to be a challenge. If you want to learn more about the requirements and best practices to become a tandem instructor make sure to check out this article.

How Much Does It Cost to Become a Skydiving Tandem Instructor

In total, tandem instructors are likely to have spent between $18,525 – 30,950 on skydiving before they earn money with skydiving. These costs include the costs of learning skydiving, equipment costs, lift fees, and the tandem instructor course costs.

Type	Lower Range	Upper Range
Learning Skydiving (AFF course + license costs)	$3,400	$4,700
Lift fees (to complete 475 jumps)	$11,875	$14,250
Equipment costs	$2,000	$10,000
Tandem instructor course (including health certificate, USPA ratings, etc.)	$1,250	$2,000
Total costs	$18,525	$30,950

An Overview of the Costs to Become a Tandem Instructor

In other words, skydiving instructors need to work 6 – 12 months just to recover the upfront costs that they paid to learn skydiving. As you can see, the salary of skydiving instructors is not very high and no one should become a skydiving instructor just because of the money.

However, if you love skydiving, skydiving instructors have a lot of benefits that “compensate” them beyond the money.

Job Benefits of a Skydiving Tandem Instructor

Becoming a skydiving tandem instructor can be a long and expensive process; however, it also has benefits that you won’t get on a regular office job or any other jobs related to sports. I have listed down a summary of the perks of being a tandem instructor.

Free skydives – The standard lift for a solo skydive is between $25 and $30 each. Being a tandem instructor will allow you to skydive for free, daily. You can have a minimum of 12 skydives on a busy day.
Not tied up to an office desk – You will not be a desk-bound office worker. In skydiving, your office is the entire skydiving facility, the airplane, and most of all the sky.
Skydiving is very open to travel – You can work anywhere you want since most major cities in the US have skydiving centers. Many instructors also work in other countries during the off-peak season. You will be able to explore the beautiful and majestic views of skydiving centers around the world.
Workload management – You have the freedom to decide whether you want to be a freelance or full-time tandem instructor.
Physical benefit – Skydiving is a good workout. Instead of going to the gym, skydiving can burn around 284 calories per hour. A full-day shift can burn more than 2,000 calories. It will also strengthen your core muscles and improve your flexibility.
Emotional and mental benefits – The body produces several hormones during strenuous activity. These “good and happy hormones” will give you emotional and mental stability. You will be able to make good decisions while under pressure.

Responsibilities of a Skydiving Tandem Instructor

Skydiving tandem instructors have a lot of fun during their work, however, their job also comes with high responsibilities. Tandem instructors are responsible for the safety of the tandem student before, during, and after skydiving.

They prepare the tandem students before the jump by conducting a safety briefing, providing safety reminders, and assisting them when boarding the aircraft.

During the jump, tandem instructors need to make sure to maintain a stable belly-to-earth position and achieve the correct “banana” arch for a smooth parachute opening. This can sometimes be difficult specifically when students make unclever movements and panic.

Even if a tandem student makes every mistake that one can make, it will still be the responsibility of the tandem instructor to bring him down safely.

In case of an emergency, tandem instructors are responsible for fixing any malfunction in a matter of seconds. They will also decide if it’s the right time to cut away from the main parachute and deploy the reserve parachute. Overall, they are responsible for the safety of the tandem students until the skydiving activity is over.

Tandem instructors are also responsible to ensure a safe landing on the ground. It is important to remind the tandem students that they will need to lift their legs and point their toes towards the sky to avoid any injuries. Once on the ground, the instructors are responsible to remove the harness from the tandem students and bring the parachutes to the packing area.

Some skydiving companies also demand from their instructors to ensure a fun ride for the students. While it is understandable that skydiving companies want to keep their customers happy, the fund often depends more on the student himself and the weather conditions. So in my opinion, tandem instructors are not responsible for the fun and comfortability of the customers.

That being said, skydiving comes with a lot of responsibilities and only offers a decent salary. However, it is quite common that people with high responsibilities do not get paid a lot.

Firefighters, for example, bear many responsibilities but only get paid an average of $47,000 per year but their job is far more important than that of a business manager (and it is also more dangerous compared to skydiving).

At the end of the day, you will be able to pursue your passion for skydiving and provide for yourself and your family.

Enjoy your freefall!

Extreme outside jobs to apply for

Office life wrecking your flow? Homo Sapien was never built for the computer cubicle. With the robots set to take over, consider returning to a more primal (and excited) state via an adrenaline-fuelled, high intensity career move.

Forget I.T and the latest start-up – today’s hot jobs are found out in the great, wide wild. From skydiving instructor to professional people pusher, we’ve shortlisted the best paid and most hair-raising.

Related: How to stop wasting time and start living your life

1. Skydiving instructor

So you’re looking for a change, but don’t necessarily want to ‘up’ the risk to balls-out extremity. Some might say hurtling from the sky day in day out is exactly the latter, yet for today’s run-of-the-mill skydiving instructor, stratospheric free-falling is all in a day’s work. With an average death for every 142,000 jumps, the gig’s not without risk, but it could be worse (and it’s a hell of way to make a crust).

Perks: Free flights; swell views; that tingly feeling down south.

Pay: Usually hourly, by jump, or salaried (averaging $35,000 per year).

2. Scuba diver

If your happy place lurks in the mysterious depths of the ocean – even more so if that ocean happens to girt an idyllic cluster of islands and atolls – then look no further. More than simply instructing interloping fish and reef oglers, scuba divers stand to earn both job diversity and a righteous packet with the range of gigs available, from stealth infiltration military frogperson, underwater archaeologist, to mine and ordnance diffuser and beyond.

Perks: Frog suit; fresh seafood.

Wage: Average $50,000 per year

Torey Pudwill: the consumate professional

3. Professional skateboarder

On the up side, a career change to pro skateboarding lets you stay on solid ground, look cool and keep fit unintentionally. On the downer, you’re the most likely of any comparable practitioner to suffer serous head and neck injuries, and most probably a skull fracture at that (see: Sharma, et al: 2015).

Perks: Sleep ins; looking cool; free stuff.

Pay: Mid-level skaters – $50 to $100K a year; turbo pros – between $500K and $1 million.

4. Commercial fisherman

An old school, and perhaps less glamorous extremity, commercial fishing remains the bane of any Australian workplace insurer. Life on the hull of a crab boat, for example, is not for the weak of constitution – expect backbreaking work, occasional torrential rain, and extreme danger, which, depending on your territory, could include pirates, lightning strike and a vast array of things in the sea that would happily eat you for tea.

Perks: Fresh fish; get to be called ‘old salty’.

Wage: Around $55,000 per year.

Related: How to harness fear to live a more fulfilling life

5. Pro surfer

If you happen to substitute your decks and grinds for a life of big wave backwash carving, you’ll need to add a 38 time higher risk of neck fracture on top of that bona fide ‘all time’ career satisfaction. But would this have stopped Leroy the Masochist? The waves, sun and endless summer are calling your name.

Perks: Natural highs; sweet tan.

Wage: top 20-30 pros are earning somewhere between $250-400,000

Bradley Cox is really good at his job

6. Motocross rider

Add 450CCs of soup to the mix and expect the risk (so too, the purse) to find itself beefed up. That’s the work-a-day case for the world’s top motocross riders, who risk it all each dirt circuit with propensity for neck fracture and occasional death. Still, the thrill, chill ‘n spill factor matches the risk here in spades.

Perks: Neat gear; respect and awe.

Wage: Top 2-3 earn around $5+ million in salary &and endorsements. Top 10, between $500K and a few million. Average pro MX salary around $90K.

7. Professional snowboarder

Endless powder highs, higher concussion rates, and a risk-per-hour spent riding that’s triple that of skiers. Yes folks, snowboarders know how to up the ante down the diamond runs. While the industry has seen some decline in recent years, if you’re good, you’ll get paid – and likely via novelty, oversized cheque.

Perks: High altitude shenanigans, free stuff from sponsors.

Wage: The top 5 make 7 figures plus.

Everest: top of the career ladder

8. Everest guide

Ok, so not as much of a deal for Australians, or at least, mountaineers living and working Downunder, but when it comes to next level career moves, a guide on Mt Everest pretty much tops the summit. Mountain guiding makes for an epic professional life in general, but the stakes are upped handsomely if you happen to be employed in the Himalayas. Hectic, potentially perilous and unpredictable conditions meets extreme fitness and life or death decisions in what has to be one of most intense and extreme gigs on earth.

Perks: Top o’ the world, Ma.

Wage: base salary of around $40,000 per year plus tips; the more epic the peak, the higher the packet: Western guides on Everest generally take home between $45,000 and $65,000 per expedition.

Related: Is this the new romantic adventure trend for 2017?

9. Wingsuit pilot

Perhaps your old job was so dire that you simply had to swing the pendulum to the complete polar opposite. Whatever the case, wingsuit flying will serve up some of the most invigorating shifts possible within the confines of a loosely sheened and artificially winged human bodice; so too, a seriously elevated risk of straight up death. As one of the deadliest forms of Base-jumping, proponents have a 72% chance of either perishing, or enduring serious injury.

Perks: Get to feel like superman/woman.

Wage: Varies

Could you be a wingsuit pilot?

10. Professional pusher

No Yakuza action here friends, just old school pushing – actual pushing – of humans, millions of them, into very fast and space-constricted subway trains. For those who haven’t been to Tokyo, the city transport network relies on these folks to sardine as many commuters as possible into their carriages in order to get folks to and fro. What better way to alleviate daily angst than a little people packing as a peak hour 旅客整理係 / ryokaku seiri gakari?

Perks: Risk-free, legal manhandling; respectable attire; sweet gloves.

Wage: Roughly $USD 9600 per year.

11. Professional deodorant tester

Potent gig, particularly the armpit deodorant variety. As well as having a bachelor’s degree up your sleeve, the world’s best odour testers need to display a range of attributes, including being trustworthy, detail-oriented, and a logical mind. Stinky and lucrative.

Perks: Smell good.

Wage: $39,000 – $116,000

12. Bicycle fisherman

The most bicycle friendly capital city of the world, Amsterdam is equally home to 15,000 submerged two wheelers, which end up in its canal depths each and every year (just .07 per cent of the city’s total). As a fully employed bicycle fisher, it’s your job to yank ‘em out with a great big hydraulic claw. Perhaps the sweetest gig of all.

Perks: Hidden treasure; get to operate a huge, metallic claw.

Wage: Unknown.

“Salary – up to 4.5 thousand dollars a month.” The Belarusian left for the USA and works as a tandem instructor

Every day, 24-year-old Maksim Zaitsev jumps with a parachute. Five to seven times. The guy left the army under a contract and moved from his native Mogilev to Phoenix (Arizona) to work as a tandem instructor.

How dreams became reality

Maxim made his first jump six years ago.

“I have dreamed about this since childhood,” he admits. – I accidentally saw a post on social networks that groups were recruiting for parachuting in the flying club, signed up.

The guy was studying to be a builder. Immediately after college, he was drafted into the army. There, the citizen of Mogilev got into the parachuting team of the Armed Forces. He performed at competitions: a couple of years ago, at the championship of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus, he even took third place in landing accuracy.

Moving to America was another childhood dream. Maxim flew to the USA for the first time in January last year – for ten days in New York. And in March he returned to the States again. All the money that I took with me when moving was 100 dollars and Belarusian kopecks. I didn’t have to work as a dishwasher or a waiter – even before moving, the guy found a vacancy for a tandem instructor in the drop zone (a place where parachuting is performed).

Maxim received his US instructor license in Russia. To qualify for it, you need to have a lot of experience: make at least 500 jumps (the citizen of Mogilev had 1400 at that time) plus fulfill various standards – jumps at night, in large formations (that is, simultaneously soar with several paratroopers). Each “flight” is confirmed by entries in the parachute book.

Maxim recalls that at first it was hard for him in the USA because of the language barrier. I couldn’t even communicate properly with the passengers. A year before the move, of course, he began to learn English on his own: he watched films, read books, listened to podcasts. But speaking practice was not enough, so it was difficult to understand the Americans by ear. Now, 10 months later, the guy is fluent in English.

During this time he visited eight states: Utah, New Mexico, California and others. Walked around Los Angeles, admired the Grand Canyon. He says America did not disappoint.

Everything was new to me. Nature is especially surprising: in Arizona, five-meter cacti and mountains are all around. It’s very warm here. In summer it is up to +50, and in January it is 20 degrees during the day.

“The oldest passenger was 91 years old”

Maxim works seven days a week. The schedule depends on what time visitors are registered. Usually it is from 11 am to 3 pm.

Salary – 4-4.5 thousand dollars a month. In general, in Arizona, the minimum wage per hour is $10. With a standard 40-hour work week, that’s about $1,600 a month. So much is paid, for example, to service personnel in fast food.

People from all over the world come to the flying club where Maxim works. And absolutely different ages.

— My oldest passenger was 91 years old. She could not walk on her own and used a walker. That pensioner made a bucket list – a list of things that she wants to have time to do before she dies. And skydiving was one of the items. Grandmother was not afraid of anything and smiled all the time. Here people in old age are completely different: they are very cheerful and advanced.

Sometimes passengers have to be reassured before jumping.

“I teach them Russian to distract them,” Maxim smiles. – Nobody refused to jump: if you already got on the plane, then there is no choice. Some only ask in advance that I push them out.

“Flight” lasts five minutes. How are passengers behaving at this time? Someone is screaming for the entire 60 seconds of free fall. Someone at this time does not breathe at all: because of the very high speed, they take their breath away.

– After opening the parachute, people sometimes have tears in their eyes: “I thought I would die now.” But even those who were very afraid, after landing, say that it was not as scary as it seemed “before”. And almost everyone assures that they will jump again.

It happens that passengers interfere with the opening of the parachute, clutching the instructor’s hands with a stranglehold. But this, fortunately, rarely happens. Some guys write “Hi, mom! I’m sorry” to take an original photo during the jump. Also, if a couple jumps, guys like to propose after the flight. The instructor with the girl lands right in front of the groom, who is already on his knees and holding the ring.

Tandem jump from the maximum height (4 km) stands in Arizona 19$ 9, with a minimum (2. 5 km) – 150. Plus, you can order a video during the fall. Shooting from the instructor’s hand will cost $69, and if you are recorded on camera by another skydiver, you will have to pay $109. Before the jump, the passenger undergoes a short briefing (about five minutes) and signs a special document stating that he is fully responsible and aware of the entire risk.

“I met my wife at work”

Maxim has more than two thousand jumps behind him. The highest height he conquered is five kilometers. At this altitude, there is little oxygen in the air, so in the plane, before the jump, paratroopers breathe with the help of oxygen masks.

– There is no fear for a long time. So used to it that for me, skydiving is like going to the store. Tandem jumping is just work, no adrenaline. But single, without a passenger is another matter. You can improvise: fly upside down, lying on your back … This is much more interesting.

— Do your parents worry about your extreme work?

— Mom was worried at first, but then reconciled. Moreover, since childhood, all my hobbies have been associated with extreme sports.

By the way, it was at work that Maxim met his future wife. Krista was visiting her cousin from Florida and wanted to skydive. Maxim turned out to be her instructor. Two weeks after they met, the guy flew to the girl’s house to stay. And after some time, Krista quit her job and moved to Phoenix. The guys got married in October.

A young family lives in a rented apartment with another couple. A month for a “kopeck piece” they pay $ 1,400 (the guys divide this amount into four). Plus a communal apartment – in December they paid 140 dollars for water and electricity.

Maxim is not going to stay long in Arizona. Together with his wife, they want to move to Hawaii. The guy admits that this is his dream – to travel to beautiful places and jump there with a parachute.

— What could be better? I want to live for my own pleasure, and not get up at six in the morning and curse my work.

Skydiving instructor | Description of professions on Jobs.ua

The instructor explains to first-timers (as those who jump for the first time) how a parachute works, how to behave in an airplane, ensures safety, morally supports beginners at the time of the jump. You can also train experienced athletes – to help master new techniques, take tests on styling, technical characteristics, and parachute control.

Instructors do not look for work in standard ways (by vacancies or through recruitment agencies) – professional connections are used. Strangers from the outside are rarely taken – this is a risky job.

Flying clubs; enterprises producing parachute equipment

Instructor’s salary is based on piece work and usually depends on the number of clients. A beginner should not count on more than $200. per month.

It will take more than one year to become a skydiver-instructor. But if you are already familiar with the sport and have good physical fitness, it will be much easier: for athletes in many flying clubs there is a special AFF (Accelerated FreeFall) program – an accelerated course of study.

National University of Physical Education and Sports of Ukraine
Uzhhorod National University
Lviv State University of Physical Education

To learn more about the teaching profession, see the following resources:

Job description of the instructor of the training center
What an instructor of a training center needs to know and be able to
Requirements for an instructor athlete in Ukraine
Job description of an instructor-methodologist in physical culture and sports

Vacancies skydiving instructor •
Parachuting Instructor Resume•
skydiving instructor in Kyiv•
parachuting instructor in Dnipro•
parachuting instructor in Odessa•
parachuting instructor in Kharkov•
parachuting instructor in Lviv

Do you know that the profession of a skydiving instructor is not only interesting, but also quite difficult? To make an excellent Skydiving Instructor, you need to have theoretical and practical knowledge, and most importantly, be able to combine them harmoniously in the process of work.