Instructor marketplace terms.

The marketplace helps you find an instructor, see truthful availability, request a session, and communicate privately once a request is authorised. Instructors are independent service providers. They are not employees, agents, partners or representatives of JD ATLAS LLC.

The Pilot Method does not direct flight operations, provide aircraft, exercise operational control, issue endorsements, keep an instructor's records for them, or guarantee that a requested session will be available, accepted, or produce any outcome.

A verified basic instructor listing is free. There is no monthly fee, no subscription, no commission and no paid ranking today. Instructor Pro tools — enhanced profiles, richer scheduling, lead management, analytics and optional payment processing — are a planned future product and are not being sold.

Search results are ordered organically. No instructor can pay for placement or for a verification badge. If a sponsored placement is ever introduced, it will be conspicuously labelled as an advertisement and will never be presented as an independent ranking.

Every badge states its exact scope and the date it was reviewed. Depending on what was actually checked, a profile may show:

• — Profile owner confirmed — the instructor controls the account and consented to publication.
• — Certificate reviewed — certificate or rating evidence was checked privately against the stated source on that date.
• — Identity reviewed — identity evidence was reviewed privately.
• — Availability updated — the instructor confirmed their availability within the displayed period.

Verification is not FAA endorsement or approval, not employment by The Pilot Method, not a criminal background check, not proof of insurance, and not a guarantee of safety, quality or booking. Only the checks named on a profile were performed.

Certificate numbers, identity documents, home addresses, private email addresses, personal phone numbers, bank details and tax data are never published. They stay in private records visible only to the instructor and to reviewers.

A student chooses a session type, online or an airport, states their goal, experience and a proposed time, and submits a request. The instructor accepts, declines or proposes another time. Until a request is authorised, neither party sees the other's private contact details.

After authorisation, a private thread opens for the two participants. Direct contact details — including any meeting link — are shared inside that thread by mutual consent. Time zones are stored and displayed explicitly so a proposed time cannot be misread.

Online sessions default to Google Meet, and a private Zoom link is supported. Calendar, Meet and Zoom accounts are not connected to this platform, so no meeting is created automatically. In-person sessions show an airport and meeting point and never a video link.

• — create and control your own account, and consent to publishing your profile;
• — keep every certificate, rating, currency, medical status where applicable, insurance, authorisation and record required for the service you offer;
• — decide independently whether you, the student, the aircraft, the airport, the weather and the proposed operation are legal and safe;
• — keep your profile, service area and availability accurate; and
• — disclose your fees and your cancellation expectations to the student directly.

The platform does not collect, hold, process, escrow, guarantee or refund payments for instructor services. No instructor payouts, deposits, commissions or subscriptions are enabled.

If you and your instructor arrange payment between yourselves, that arrangement is entirely between you. The Pilot Method does not protect it, mediate it, or provide buyer or seller protection for it.

A session may be cancelled or rescheduled by either the student or the instructor up to 24 hours before its scheduled start time. Inside that window, the instructor's own stated terms apply, and they should be agreed in the private thread before the session is booked.

The platform does not process payments for instructor services, so it does not charge, hold or return any cancellation fee. Weather, aircraft availability and safety cancellations are always at the instructor's discretion.

After a session an instructor may record a structured private debrief: objective, topics covered, strengths, gaps, three next actions, resources and an optional follow-up date. A debrief is a study record shared between the two participants. It is not a logbook entry, not an endorsement, and not an FAA training record.

Report unsafe conduct, a false claim, an inaccurate profile or any misuse to fly@pilotmethodaviation.com or through the contact form. We can suspend a listing, request evidence, or remove a profile. Emergencies and suspected regulatory violations should go to the appropriate authority, not to us.

See also the terms of use, the reviews policy and the privacy notice.