A structured route from no license to airline-ready, run out of Van Nuys Airport, twenty-two minutes east of Calabasas on the 101.
The Airline Pilot Program is $89,000 and runs from no experience to airline-ready: private certificate, instrument rating, commercial certificate and multi-engine, in sequence, with the hour building in between. It is quoted as one figure rather than a stack of hourly rates, which makes it something you can actually put in a spreadsheet. We will walk you through the stage-by-stage breakdown at a free in-person consultation before you commit to anything.
Calabasas sends us two sorts of candidate. Career changers in their thirties and forties who have looked at an airline seniority list and worked out that starting now still leaves a full career on the other side. And graduates of Calabasas High and the private schools along Mulholland Highway who are weighing four years of tuition against a faster, cheaper route into a flight deck. Both conversations turn out to be the same conversation: time, money, and how soon you are earning.
Financing is available through Stratus Financial, and we run in-house payment plans as well. The practical advantage of doing this from Calabasas is the commute. Thirteen miles on the 101 to a field open 9 AM to 9 PM, seven days a week. A full-time track means flying most days of the week, and a twenty-two-minute drive is often the difference between a program somebody finishes and one they quietly stop attending.
Each rating is a prerequisite for the next, so the order is fixed and the pace comes down to how often you can fly.
The foundation. Somewhere between 40 and 60 hours of flying, the FAA written exam, a solo phase and a practical test with a designated examiner. Students flying full-time out of Van Nuys often clear this stage in three to four months.
Flying in cloud and at night by reference to instruments alone, which is the rating that separates a hobby from a job. Much of the procedural work happens in the Redbird MCX simulator, where repeating a missed approach costs nothing. Bought on its own the instrument rating is $11,700.
The same maneuvers flown to a considerably tighter standard, plus the cross-country time the FAA requires. This is the long middle of the program, and it is where most of the flying out to Camarillo, Santa Barbara, Bakersfield and the desert airports happens.
Flown in the Piper Seminole: asymmetric thrust, Vmc demonstrations, engine-out procedures and single-engine approaches. As a standalone add-on it is $5,100. Every airline job starts in a multi-engine airplane, so this stage is not optional for anyone on this track.
An airline transport pilot certificate needs 1,500 hours, or fewer under the restricted-ATP rules if you qualify. Most graduates build that time by instructing. We will be straight with you about the timeline: this stage is measured in a year or two, not in weeks.
Every figure below is the real, published price. No "call for a quote," no hidden block-time minimums.
Everything from your first lesson to the flight hours and ratings an airline wants to see. One program, one price.
Prefer to pay as you progress? The same ratings, priced individually.
Before committing to a career, find out whether you love the flying.
From Calabasas it is the 101 east. On at Las Virgenes Road, Lost Hills Road or Parkway Calabasas, off thirteen miles later at Balboa Blvd, then north past Victory and Vanowen with the airport on your left. Twenty-two minutes on a typical day. Training full-time means doing this most mornings, and morning eastbound is the good direction, because the heavy traffic is heading the other way toward the Westside.
The trip home is the harder half. Westbound on the 101 between four and seven adds twenty minutes or more, which is a genuine argument for early slots. We are at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, open 9 AM to 9 PM seven days a week, and parking is free on site. That last detail matters more than it sounds when you are at the field five days a week for two years.
Pick your aircraft, pick a date and time, and you are on the schedule. You fly the airplane yourself with an FAA-certified instructor beside you — and every flight is 100% credited toward training if you enroll within 24 hours.
Full-motion simulator with an instructor. No weight limit, no medical needed.
Reserve →You in the pilot's seat over Los Angeles, hands on the controls the whole way.
Book Now →One of you flies hands-on, the other takes in the skyline. Share the story.
Book Now →Premium Cirrus SR22 glass cockpit and extended air time over the LA basin.
Book Now →Twin-engine Piper Seminole and a genuine look at the professional path.
Book Now →You start in the Cessna 162 Skycatcher, the Diamond DA20 or the Piper Warrior, at $269 an hour for the Cessna and the Warrior and $329 for the Diamond. Complex work moves to the Piper Arrow II at $349, with retractable gear and a constant-speed propeller. The Redbird MCX full-motion simulator carries a large part of the instrument syllabus, which keeps that phase affordable.
The multi-engine phase is flown in the Piper Seminole at $649 an hour. The Cirrus SR22 Turbo, also $649, gives you glass-cockpit time in an airplane whose avionics sit much closer to an airline flight deck than a steam-gauge trainer does. Every one of these aircraft is based here at Van Nuys, so nothing about the program depends on traveling to another field.
Two years of training out of Van Nuys makes these as familiar as street signs.
Your own commute laid out below you, running from Calabasas east to Universal City. It is the first navigation reference nearly every student here uses, and one you keep using long after you have stopped needing it.
The high ground of the Santa Monica Mountains south of Calabasas, bristling with broadcast masts. Visible from most of the Valley and a useful terrain reference when the coast is sitting under marine layer.
Most mornings the cloud stops in a hard line along the ridge above Malibu. Learning where that line sits, and when it spills north over the top into Calabasas, is half of local weather judgment.
The open hills north of the 118, where students go for stalls, steep turns and engine-out drills. Quiet airspace ten minutes from the field is the underrated advantage of learning here.
$89,000, from zero experience through to airline-ready. It is quoted as a single program price rather than a running hourly tab. Financing is available through Stratus Financial and we also run in-house payment plans. Individual ratings can be bought separately if you would rather go piece by piece, at $11,700 for the instrument rating and $5,100 for the multi-engine add-on.
Flying full-time, the certificates and ratings themselves usually take twelve to eighteen months. Reaching the 1,500 hours an airline transport pilot certificate requires takes longer, and most graduates get there by instructing. Anyone quoting you a shorter figure without first asking how many days a week you can fly is guessing.
Yes, and most of our career-track students do. It is thirteen miles and about twenty-two minutes on the 101 to Balboa Blvd, with free parking at 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A. We are open 9 AM to 9 PM every day, so a full-time flying schedule and a family in Calabasas fit together in a way they would not at a residential academy in another state.
No. An FAA airline transport pilot certificate carries no degree requirement, although a qualifying aviation degree can lower the hour minimum under the restricted-ATP rules, and some carriers still like to see one. Come and talk both paths through at a free consultation before you commit money to either.
Start with a discovery flight. It is $229 for 60 minutes in a single, or $189 for an hour in the Redbird simulator, and you fly it yourself. The time is loggable, and if you enroll within 24 hours, 100% of the cost is credited toward training. Nobody should commit $89,000 to a career they have not sat in the seat for.
Book It Or Gift It
Every discovery flight below can be booked for yourself in the next few minutes, or bought as a gift certificate that is emailed within minutes and never expires. Same flight, same price, either way.
Most Given
One person, one instructor, and no audience. Hands on the controls from the left seat, briefed before you go and debriefed after you land.
Hands-On Stick TimePre-Flight BriefingLoggable Flight Time
Flight Length
$229Book Or Gift
Same Price
Two Seats
The same flight with a passenger in the back seat, briefed and on the intercom. Couples book it; so do parents who would rather watch than hear about it.
One Passenger SeatPiper Warrior Or ArcherHeadsets For Both
Flight Length
$299Book Or Gift
Same Price
The Nice One
The nicest airplane we put a first-time flyer in. Glass cockpit, air conditioning, leather seats, and a parachute built into the airframe rather than strapped to the person.
Turbocharged Cirrus SR22Air ConditioningWhole-Airframe Parachute
Flight Length
$499Book Or Gift
Same Price
Twin Engine
Two engines, and the airplane instrument-rated pilots move into when they start thinking about a career. Flown from the left seat with a multi-engine instructor.
Piper Seminole TwinMulti-Engine DepartureCareer-Track Instructor
Flight Length
$499Book Or Gift
Same Price
Gift It issues a real gift certificate, emailed within minutes, which never expires and credits in full toward training. Flights are limited to 180 lb per person, 370 lb combined. Questions: (818) 290-8249, 9 AM–9 PM, seven days.
Our Courses
Real pricing on every program we teach at Van Nuys Airport, beyond the pricing already shown above.
5.0 Average Rating
100+ Google Reviews
Youth Program
Ages 10–15. For young people who want to start before they can legally solo.
$4,200 View Course
Milestone
Enough training to take an aircraft around the pattern alone. The day everything changes.
$5,500 View Course
Certificate
A real certificate with fewer hours and narrower privileges. The shortest honest route to flying yourself.
$8,400 View Course
Bundle
Private Pilot with flight time, ground instruction and study materials bundled into one price.
$15,900 View CourseBundle
The same certificate as Private, with the most flight time before your checkride. Eighty logged hours, ground instruction and materials, all in one price.
80 Logged Hours Ground School Included Materials Included $22,500 View Course
Our Fleet
Diamond DA20, Cessna 162, Piper Arrow II and our Piper Seminole twin — all on the field at Van Nuys.
View The FleetLoved On Google
Every review below is real and shown verbatim, in the reviewer’s own words — written by the people who learned to fly here, not by us.
SAFETY FIRST
Very safety and detail oriented. Pre-flight briefing explained everything there was. To my knowledge, this flight school is exceptional in their ability.
DISCOVERY FLIGHT
I recently had the chance to take my first-ever discovery flight, and it was nothing short of amazing! From the moment I stepped into the cockpit, the...
SUNSET CIRRUS
It was a great flight! I did a sunset flight and Alex let us fly an awesome. Website was easy to book, and the plane itself was really fun to fly...
FLYING LESSON
We had a great flying lesson with Ralph and came away with a much better understanding of both the aircraft and the principles of flight. Ralph is a...
KIDS LUXURY FLIGHT
I got 2 luxury discovery flights for my kids. I wanted them to have the experience of flying. Our instructor Alex was amazing he made sure they feel...
HONEYMOON SURPRISE
Last minute booking to surprise my wife on our honeymoon. She had no experience with flying and was scared of flying, but Alex was very easygoing and knew...
FULL-MOTION SIM
Amazing flight school in van nuys airport. I have been a student here for the past few months and i could not be happier. I started doing a lot of...
DISCOVERY FOR TWO
I booked a Discovery Flight for Two for my girlfriend's birthday and it was the perfect gift for her. She couldn't have been more excited to get to...
SIMULATORS
Very professional and great airplanes. I love the flight simulators. The pricing is very fair compared to any other flight school
TEEN FIRST LESSON
We gifted our teenage son his first flying lesson. He was so excited! Alex greeted us and gave a reassuring brief that made us all feel comfortable and at...
FIRST-TIME FLYER
Flying is my husband's hobby and I was incredibly anxious and apprehensive about the discovery flight. However, I felt completely safe and at ease once we...
SAFETY FIRST
Very safety and detail oriented. Pre-flight briefing explained everything there was. To my knowledge, this flight school is exceptional in their ability.
DISCOVERY FLIGHT
I recently had the chance to take my first-ever discovery flight, and it was nothing short of amazing! From the moment I stepped into the cockpit, the...
SUNSET CIRRUS
It was a great flight! I did a sunset flight and Alex let us fly an awesome. Website was easy to book, and the plane itself was really fun to fly...
FLYING LESSON
We had a great flying lesson with Ralph and came away with a much better understanding of both the aircraft and the principles of flight. Ralph is a...
KIDS LUXURY FLIGHT
I got 2 luxury discovery flights for my kids. I wanted them to have the experience of flying. Our instructor Alex was amazing he made sure they feel...
HONEYMOON SURPRISE
Last minute booking to surprise my wife on our honeymoon. She had no experience with flying and was scared of flying, but Alex was very easygoing and knew...
FULL-MOTION SIM
Amazing flight school in van nuys airport. I have been a student here for the past few months and i could not be happier. I started doing a lot of...
DISCOVERY FOR TWO
I booked a Discovery Flight for Two for my girlfriend's birthday and it was the perfect gift for her. She couldn't have been more excited to get to...
SIMULATORS
Very professional and great airplanes. I love the flight simulators. The pricing is very fair compared to any other flight school
TEEN FIRST LESSON
We gifted our teenage son his first flying lesson. He was so excited! Alex greeted us and gave a reassuring brief that made us all feel comfortable and at...
FIRST-TIME FLYER
Flying is my husband's hobby and I was incredibly anxious and apprehensive about the discovery flight. However, I felt completely safe and at ease once we...
Reviews shown verbatim, exactly as each reviewer published them.
If you are in Calabasas and seriously costing out a flying career, the next step is a conversation with real numbers on the table rather than a brochure. Call (818) 290-8249 or come to 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A for a free in-person consultation, any day between 9 AM and 9 PM.
Or Send Us A Message And We'll Come Back To You The Same Day →