This Reddit thread from r/flying surfaces a persistent, unglamorous reality of the modern flight-time-building career path: seasonal on-demand Part 135 charter operators often cannot offer year-round employment, leaving pilots to patch together income and currency during the off-season. The original poster is flying demand charter for an operator whose flying dries up in October, has been told full-time positions may open up next season but not this year, and is weighing a return to CFI work versus something with more consistent hours. This is a common pattern at seasonal 135 operations tied to leisure travel, hunting/fishing lodges, ski destinations, agricultural or firefighting contracts, and other markets with pronounced demand cycles — the operator staffs up for peak season and either furloughs or reduces flying for line pilots when volume falls off.
For working pilots, this thread is a reminder that the "hours building" phase of a career is rarely linear or fully stable, even once a pilot has moved past instructing and into revenue-generating turbine or charter flying. Seasonal 135 work is attractive because it often pays better than instructing, builds PIC/multi/turbine time faster, and can lead to a highly coveted full-time seat — but the gap between seasons creates real financial and career-planning friction. Falling back on a CFI certificate is the classic bridge solution: it's flexible, keeps a pilot flying and current, and can be picked up part-time or full-time depending on local demand. However, as the poster notes, CFI work lacks the reliability (steady schedule, guaranteed income) many pilots want once they've tasted charter or Part 135 flying. Other common off-season fallbacks pilots discuss in these communities include contract flying, banner towing, pipeline/aerial survey work, flying for FBOs on an as-needed basis, or picking up part-135 relief/on-call work with other operators that have complementary seasonal patterns (e.g., a summer operator pairing with a winter-heavy ski charter or Part 91K fractional).
This dynamic matters more broadly because it touches on workforce stability issues that are increasingly visible across regional and charter aviation. As airlines have absorbed pilots at a rapid pace in recent hiring cycles, smaller 135 and 91K operators have had to compete harder for qualified crews, and seasonal operators are particularly exposed — they need experienced pilots for a concentrated window but can't always justify carrying them on payroll year-round. This creates a pipeline problem: pilots who might otherwise stay loyal to a seasonal operator in hopes of a full-time slot may instead leave for competitors, regional airlines, or corporate flight departments that offer steadier work, forcing the seasonal operator to recruit and retrain new pilots each year. For flight departments and charter operators reading trends like this, it underscores the value of creative retention strategies — cross-training pilots into maintenance-adjacent or ground-ops roles, brokering off-season contract arrangements with sister companies, or building relationships with complementary seasonal operators — to retain talent rather than lose it to the broader hiring market.
Finally, this thread reflects a broader theme in the pilot community: career progression is rarely a straight line, and building a resume often means tolerating gaps, seasonal transitions, and diversified flying rather than a single steady climb. Pilots weighing seasonal 135 charter work against instructing, contract flying, or other bridge jobs should factor in not just current-year income but how each option builds toward the type ratings, PIC hours, and network connections that lead to the next seat — whether that's a full-time 135 slot, a 91K fractional gig, or eventually a regional or major airline career.