Advice on flight training no show

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NebulaAdventurous281@reddit

Is this a one off singular event or is this a recurring problem?

If it’s a singular even then just do better and move on, thank your CFI profusely and get her a $50 Starbucks card.

But… if this is recurring: You had 30+ alarms set? Like on the same phone but you didn’t think to plug in the phone and charge it?

The fact that you felt you needed to set 30+ alarms makes it sound like it’s a recurring issue and you are a grade A screw up. If that’s the case I would seriously reflect on the root cause??? Are you gaming or watching Netflix till 2am like an irresponsible kid or what’s the deal? You know you have a lesson, so set the necessary things in place to ensure your success. Be a big boy or big girl and be on time or get out of aviation it’s not for you.

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Disastrous_Cup_3051@reddit

Well the thing is I usally let go my students without charging them if it’s like there first time or if they are like regularly in time and missed once not a big deal things happen. But unfortunately some flight school’s policy is charge the students and it’s crazy money like 450 or so 😑

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Unable_Request@reddit

30+ alarms is a symptom, not a solution.

I used to do this. The ONLY thing that worked for me: I set ONE alarm. One. When I hear it, I get up. Period. Multiple alarms meant "oh, alarm going off, but I've got time -- I'll go back to sleep". One alarm means "Alarm: GET. UP".

This also required getting more sleep. Like, seriously. Get your eight plus. You need that, even if you're NOT flying.

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Ok_Witness179@reddit

OP, so much this. Setting more than one alarm just trains you to ignore alarms. It also cuts into your sleep because now you have to set the "warning alarm" early.

Also I don't trust my phone, there's too many things that can go wrong and easily in it not waking me up.

I use a watch. My Garmin has a really nice vibrate alarm that always wakes me up. But again, no matter what you use, the trick is to always get up immediately when it goes off. Only have one alarm, and NEVER snooze.

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MeadyOker@reddit

First. ... I don't understand how people, in the year 2026, are setting alarms on their phone in order to be awake for important things and then don't plug the phone in. You saw the battery level when you went to bed, what were you expecting? Doesn't not make sense to me. Rant over, I'll get off my soapbox.

Second ... the best thing you can do is just never let it happen again. be early. live by the mantra "To be early is to be on time. To be on time is to be late. To be late, you better be dead". Sorry ... getting off the soapbox again.

Third ... if you absolutely need to get something ... my experience in the military is that a 6 pack of beer was the usual "I'm very sorry" gift. But if your instructor is a starbucks person, then sure ... whatever the smallest gift card is to get at least a drink.

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Avreal_Valkara@reddit

I hate being on time to places. I'm about 12 minutes from my school, so I leave 30 minutes early for ground reservations. For flights I typically leave around 15-20 minutes early, but that's because I'm already showing up 30 minutes early to preflight and it's a 50/50 whether the plane is even on the ground when I get there

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MeadyOker@reddit

You hate being on time? Do you also hate being late? Your description suggests you arrive early.

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Avreal_Valkara@reddit

Exactly, because if I get somewhere at the time I'm supposed to be there then it means I'm running late. Along with early being on time, being on time or later is being late

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MeadyOker@reddit

Okay, we're on the same page. The way you worded it made me think you were just ... never showing up on time and I was about to jump back on my anonymous soapbox and rant.

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MiniTab@reddit

Good advice.

OP, let this be a lesson. Not waking up is absolutely inexcusable if you are planning to pursue a career in aviation. To this day if I have an early wake up, I use two independent sources to wake me up. iPhone and iPad, or preferably phone and alarm clock.

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theogmichaelscott@reddit

Use the alarmy app. I used to have the same problem until I used this app. You can choose what challenges you have to do to stimulate your brain before being allowed to turn the alarm off. I use the barcode feature where I have to physically get out of bed and go take a photo of something in my kitchen or the alarm just keeps going forever. Ive never slept through an alarm since. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=droom.sleepIfUCan

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Scooney92@reddit

Get one of those alarms with the buzzers that go under the bed that vibrate like crazy and get your ass up. Been there so I understand but what will you do when you’re on the clock and need to be somewhere like a pilot? Just my thoughts, thank her with a tip. The alarms work great, you can find them on Amazon. Had to buy them for my niece & nephew, I did 30 years in the Army and was NEVER an early bird but you find what works to function.

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Guysmiley777@reddit

I know I’m bad at waking up early

Might not be the best career choice for you then.

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pooserboy@reddit

Me with my 3:30 am van reading this

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Fancy_o_lucas@reddit

She probably no showed a lesson at some point too, most of us have. Show up to your next lesson well prepared and have a good flight to make it up to her.

Do what you can to not make this a habit, but it happens to everyone every once in a while. One day in the future you’ll wake up to a call from the hotel desk in Columbus because you set your alarm for the wrong van time. You’ll be embarrassed and apologize to the crew, but everyone will understand because everyone’s made the mistake before.

Apologize to her, but I promise you she’s not going to hold it against you, and there’s a good chance shes happy at the opportunity to have a work break for a couple hours.

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Muted-Rhubarb2143@reddit

This is an unrealistically charitable portrayal of how other people view those who are chronically late and think it’s ok. People lose jobs over being late.

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Fancy_o_lucas@reddit

Chronically late isn’t even remotely the case here with OP, and it’s an important part of what I’m saying that a one time instance is completely meaningless.

Students, my own and stage checks alike, no showed, it was a normal part of dealing with kids between 18-22 years old.

No one in this industry is losing their job after being late one time, anyone who’s had that listed for a reason for termination was already disliked by the company and they were looking for reasons to put on a file. I’d love to see an airline sit down with ALPA lawyers after a pilot blocked out late one time.

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AutothrustBlue@reddit

Show up early with coffee and study your ass off.

Everybody does this once.

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Sgtjacques1@reddit

I'd recommend to bring some donuts next flight too. Least that's what we do in the trades if we're late

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No-Brilliant9659@reddit

Pay her for her time. Don’t mention it to the flight school just bring her a $100 bill the next time you see her and reiterate that you’re sorry and it won’t happen again.

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p33k4y@reddit

Btw if you think she's the type that might refuse to accept the money (yes they exist), then get her a gift certificate say from Amazon for the same $100 or whatever. That usually works especially if they don't know the amount beforehand.

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Strict-Confusion-570@reddit

This. put your money where your mouth is. And study. Come extra ready for all flights going forward. And buy an actual alarm clock with a battery backup.

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dyl_16@reddit

I’m sure some of these have been mentioned already. But get a real alarm clock if you are having trouble waking up, something about them is much more effective than a phone alarm (regardless of if the phone dies or not). Also by setting a ton of alarms preceding the time you are trying to wake up at you are just training yourself to subconsciously sleep through all alarms. For now change the alarm sound to change it up. And make sure your phone is plugged in.

Pay her for her time please, she sounds like a very kind person for covering for you. And your slot was money she was expecting that another student probably would have filled. (Flight instructors don’t exactly make a killing, most of their compensation is getting the flight hours, they don’t actually see very much of the money you are paying for training)

As long as it’s not a habit then it’s no biggie. I did the identical thing once or twice during my training. It’s only human to make mistakes.

If possible for you and her go for an afternoon slot, that’s what I did and it made a ton of difference in my preparedness, as I am in no way shape or form a morning person. After school stopped forcing me to get up early I’ve slept until 10-11pm every day.

When humans were still wild animals living out in the wilderness in vulnerability it was necessary that some members of the troop were awake during the night to keep watch. And it was necessary that others woke early for watch and productivity reasons. Hundreds of thousands of years later and there are still morning people and still night people. Our societal structure forces everyone at some point in time to be morning people and for some people it’s just not natural. Best way to handle it is to push your schedule later in the day if possible. Best of luck in your flight training!! (Also cash is infinitely better than Starbucks gift cards 😉)

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haveanairforceday@reddit

30+ alarms is nuts. You are just training yourself to sleep through alarms. This will be a major issue for you if you dont fix it.

Get a dedicated alarm clock with a really obnoxious sound that WILL wake you up. Put it across the room so you have to stand up to turn it off. Make an agreement with yourself that when it goes off you will get up. You will not go back to sleep. So dont set it for 20 minutes early and then go back to sleep. Set it for when you plan to be up and then 100% get up. Every time it goes off. Make it a stong habit.

Then start working on ensuring you get to bed 8 hours before you need to be up. You can use your phone alarms for that

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Academic_Passage8430@reddit

Or be responsible, get to bed at a reasonable hour to be fully rested for your show time. I’m west coast, and regularly have 5 am shows on the east coast. That’s a 0330 alarm ie midnight home base time. Big deal, I lay down about 8.5 hours before the alarm is set. Something tells me op was playing video games or some shit until 1 am.

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Guysmiley777@reddit

Or OP has sleep apnea and isn't getting quality sleep.

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anon7631@reddit

I really don't understand comments like this assuming the worst of OP. I don't see any reason to believe that he didn't go to bed on time; it's not like going to bed magically makes you fall asleep. It could easily be a typical night of lying there for several hours achingly tired and unable to sleep.

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haveanairforceday@reddit

Clearly the techniques they are using arent working. Maybe its partly video games but its also for sure being made worse by how they are using their alarm clock. You wont help them improve their problem by just saying "Be Better". Im trying to offer actually useful advice so that they can (as you said) get to bed at a reasonable hour and then be rested and ready and show time.

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SRM_Thornfoot@reddit

Hats off to your instructor. That was a classy move.

Don’t make her do it again.

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Fit-Club239@reddit

Bro I was the same way. Buy a vibrating mattresses pad you’ll never be late ever again

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gunnarjps@reddit

But her a Rolex Air King

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Skiddledew@reddit

Can’t do that when you’re working for the airlines!

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Weasel474@reddit

In addition to what everyone else has said, remember this when you're an instructor. If you've got a stellar student who is always prepared and on time but they miss one flight due to something like this, pass the grace along.

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EntroperZero@reddit

I had 30+ alarms set. Somehow my phone died overnight, so none of them woke me up

Consider this a lesson in systems design, specifically redundancy vs. single points of failure. You thought you had a redundant system, but all 30 of your alarms depended on one thing, your phone's battery being charged. Now you know something new about what it means for systems to be truly redundant.

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DanThePilot_Mann@reddit

Let this be the only occurrence.

You no show me once, it’s free, do it twice? You owe me for both lessons

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ltcterry@reddit

You didn’t set “30+” alarms if they were all on the same phone. Lesson learned.

Someone did you a favor. Don’t screw up again. Punctuality is important in life.

“Ten minutes early is on time” will keep you out of trouble.

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vtmiller1969@reddit

I had several employees chronically late because they depend on their phone for the alarm. I couldn’t get it in their thick skulls that you can buy an alarm clock at Walmart for less than $10.00. BUY A FUCKING ALARM CLOCK!

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Flat-Row7968@reddit

Same thing I do when I forgot about a haircut appointment I still paid him for that time. Also if you need 30+ alarms to wake up something’s wrong dude

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Jestia76@reddit

First time, I'm good, wouldn't even stress it, life happens, an apology is fine.

If its repeating or happens often, you need to reevaluate why its happening and fix it, as I would drop you as a student if it happened often and charge you for the time.

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FishrNC@reddit

You owe her what she would have received for the time.

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theeyeholeman1@reddit

I'm not going to comment regarding missing the lesson as others already have been pretty thorough. I'd just like to point out that if you're intending to make a career out of flying, you're going to be needing to wake up and go to sleep at all hours of the day for your entire career. 3-4am wake ups are not unheard of by any means. I'm not a morning person either, but you need to figure out a system that works for you sooner rather than later. Simply not showing up for a revenue flight won't be tolerated.

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FlyingRottweiler@reddit

I hate my alarm clock at 0300!

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Number1atp@reddit

I guess when you’re incapable of growing up and functioning like an adult you can alway come to Reddit to get advise. Want to compensate someone for their time? Try money. It works.

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74_Jeep_Cherokee@reddit

Try asking... Her?

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Rangeexpert3@reddit

Something like this happening one time usually isn't a big deal. However, subsequent times either the school would charge you a no show fee or the instructor would charge you for their time.

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VileInventor@reddit

As a CFI you get one freebie.

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Low_Sky_49@reddit

That was your freebie. Thank her, and don’t let it happen again. If it does happen again, you’ve shorted her two lessons, compensate her accordingly.

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karrdian@reddit

Pay for her time, of course.

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JustAnotherDude1990@reddit

Pay her for her time as mentioned and be responsible enough to make sure your phone is plugged in and charging. If you cant do that, flying is too much responsibility for you.

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Thomas-Ligotti97@reddit

Green flag from your instructor. She could’ve got money for that

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MehCFI@reddit

Don’t worry about it- but improve. All my students get one. Things happen and your CFI gave you a break, but expect to get charged for future ones.

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rFlyingTower@reddit

This is a copy of the original post body for posterity:

Hey, I need some advice. I had flight training scheduled at 7am, we agreed to meet at 6:30, and I completely messed it up.

I know I’m bad at waking up early, so I had 30+ alarms set. Somehow my phone died overnight, so none of them woke me up. I ended up waking up about an hour after my flight slot and immediately saw texts from my instructor.

For context, I’ve had 3 instructors so far (the first two left for airlines), and she’s been the best one by far. I’m genuinely the most comfortable and happy flying with her, which makes me feel even worse about this.

What makes me feel even worse is she apparently told the flight school I was sick so I wouldn’t get charged or anything. I didn’t ask her to do that, she just handled it like that, and now I feel terrible that she had to wait and then cover for me too.

I texted her right away, explained what happened, and apologized a lot, but I’ve honestly been thinking about this the whole day. I know this is 100% on me and I really screwed up.

What do you guys think I can do for her? I want to compensate her somehow for her time and for helping me out, but I don’t want to make it weird. Would something like a Starbucks gift card be appropriate, or is there a better way to handle this?

Appreciate any thoughts!

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