Definition
An instructor conduct standard requiring that the flight or ground instructor consistently demonstrate the knowledge, skill, judgment, demeanor, and ethical behavior expected of an aviation professional during every interaction with students, colleagues, examiners, and the public — without exception based on mood, fatigue, location, or who is watching.
Plain English
Always act the part of a serious, capable instructor — in how you prepare, how you speak, how you dress, and how you treat people. Not just when a student is in the cockpit, and not just when someone important is watching. Every time.
Context Anchor
Seen in FAA guidance for flight instructors, especially in discussions of instructor professionalism, student trust, and role-model behavior.
Derivation
Professional' comes from the Latin professio, meaning 'a public declaration.' A professional is someone who has publicly declared a standard of conduct and competence and is held to it. The phrase 'at all times' is the operative part — it removes the option of switching the standard off.
Why Pilots Care
Students model their instructor's habits. An instructor who is sharp, prepared, and respectful in every session produces students who fly the same way. An instructor who cuts corners — even occasionally — teaches students that corners can be cut, and that lesson tends to show up later in the cockpit when it matters.
Intuition Check
Do not read professional as only meaning paid, formal, or nicely dressed. Here it means consistently safe, prepared, respectful, honest, and worthy of being copied by a student.
Example Sentence 1
The chief instructor reminded the new CFIs to be professional at all times, including during informal hangar conversations where students could overhear.
Example Sentence 2
Even during a long day of back-to-back lessons, she remembered to be professional at all times by staying focused on each student’s needs.