I am contemplating flight instruction from a few nearby flight schools. Is there a website that provides information on certifications that a pilot has?

I suggest you ask the instructer for his/her logbook. This should have a entry in it as to when they completed the test for instructer. If they do not want to show you than they are more than likely not FAA certified. With the name of the pilot I would imagine the FAA could verify there status. I am not aware of a website that lists all pilots as this might be senestive information.

Thanks for the quick responses to all.

Certainly a direct questions is a good idea, but sometimes schools list their instructors without giving background. Was just hoping to do review what I could ahead of time.

Cessna

About a year ago I was able to find a site that gave me the certifications of a certain instructor that worked out of a local school. I had to know his registration? number to get the information. It was probably an FAA site. This year, however, I cannot locate any site that even asks for a registration number.

Cessna

What exactly are you looking for? Proof that a given instructor is really a CFI? If so, you can almost certainly rest assured that the school has already checked on that.


But if that's not satisfactory, if you do find a list of pilots and their certifications, you may not find any information that cross-references them to a particular flight school, so I'm not sure how this would help you, unless you get all the instructors' names first.

If you just want to know if said instructor is a good instructor, locate a student at the school you're interested in, and ask the student. Warning: answers may vary from student to student...


For what it's worth, I'd sooner want to see the aircraft's books than the instructor's...

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I would think that's fairly obvious. Some aircraft are better maintained than others.

Things have changed a lot since I was learning to fly. In those days instructing was seen as an honourable profession but nowadays it seems to be a stop-gap until something better comes along. At least, I get the impression that's how it is in the US.

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My point, I suppose, is that there are more lousy flight-school planes out there than lousy instructors... at least that's been my personal impression.

It's not a bad idea to at least ask to see the maintenence logs for a plane you're thinking of renting... if they refuse to show them, or make some fishy excuse, go somewhere else.

As for the instructors, even an outfit that skimps on maintenance will check out prospective CFIs pretty thoroughly.
New CFIs are a dime a dozen, and they don't stay long, generally- employers can afford to be picky.

  I wouldn't worry about their qualifications- it's more important to hook up with a teacher who's a good match to your needs and personality. And an impressive resume doesn't mean much until you fly with this person and see what they're really like as a teacher.

To further illustrate my point regarding average quality of CFIs vs. average quality of aircraft maintenance:
I once met a young, hungry CFI who had abruptly quit his first flying job, with a small flight school, after he saw the owner of the school out on the ramp straightening the prop on a trainer-with a hammer-  while it was still attached to the airplane...

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Interesting indeed. It would be very frustrating to find an instructor that suits you only for them to move on after a couple of lessons.

You can usually tell how well an aircraft is maintained just by looking at it. It's not so much the age that matters but general cleanliness, condition of tyres & things like that.