The full career track from no experience to airline ready costs $89,000 and runs out of Van Nuys Airport, fifteen minutes east of Canoga Park on Sherman Way.
The Airline Pilot Program takes someone with no flight time at all to the point where they are competitive for a first officer seat. It is $89,000, and that figure covers the whole sequence: private, instrument, commercial, multi-engine and the instructor ratings you will use to build hours. It is a large number and we would rather put it in front of you plainly than talk around it. Financing runs through Stratus Financial, with in-house payment plans alongside it.
Canoga Park has always been a place where people worked in aerospace rather than read about it. Rocket engines were built on Canoga Ave for decades, and there are still households here where somebody turns wrenches at the airport, loads freight, or runs a shop that supplies people who do. That background helps. Students from this neighborhood tend to arrive having already done the arithmetic on what the training costs and what a career earns.
Most people here train while working. The program is not a boarding school and we do not pretend everyone can stop earning for eighteen months. Because Van Nuys is fifteen minutes away on one road and we run 9 AM to 9 PM seven days a week, it is realistic to fly before a shift or after one, four or five times a week, and keep the paycheck coming while you do it.
Five stages, each with its own FAA checkride, each one building on the hours already in the book.
The foundation, and the longest single stage for most people. You learn to fly the aircraft, navigate, talk on the radio and make decisions alone. Expect six to nine months at four or five flights a week, finishing with a checkride at Van Nuys.
Flying in cloud, on airways, on approach plates, without looking outside. This is where professional flying really starts and where the Redbird MCX simulator earns its keep. As a standalone rating it is $11,700, and the marine layer that rolls into the Valley makes it a very practical thing to hold.
Tighter tolerances, complex aircraft, and the legal right to be paid to fly. You will do most of it in the Piper Arrow II. The hour requirements mean a lot of this stage is deliberate time building rather than instruction, which keeps the cost per hour down.
The Piper Seminole. Engine-out handling, Vmc, asymmetric performance, and the checkride that goes with it. As an add-on for someone already certificated it is $5,100. Every airline job needs it, so it is not an optional extra on this route.
CFI, then usually CFII. You get paid to fly, you build toward the 1,500 hours an ATP needs, and teaching turns out to be the fastest way to become genuinely good. Most people spend a year to eighteen months here, based at Van Nuys.
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.
Sherman Way east from Canoga Park to Balboa Blvd, then north to 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A. Eight miles, about fifteen minutes, free parking on site. For a program where you may be at the airport four or five days a week for two years, that drive matters more than it sounds like it should. It is the difference between training being part of the day and training being an expedition.
Sherman Way is signals rather than freeway, so it is dependable rather than quick, and it does thicken between four and six. Roscoe Blvd along the north side of the field is the better run at that hour, and Vanowen St works from the south end of the neighborhood. A 7 AM lesson before work is a clean twelve minutes from most of 91304, and evening slots run right up to 9 PM.
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 Piper Warrior or the Diamond DA20. Single-engine aircraft time is $179 an hour wet for enrolled students. Instrument and commercial work moves you into the Piper Arrow II, a complex aircraft with retractable gear and a constant speed prop. The Cirrus SR22 Turbo gives you glass cockpit and turbocharged high-altitude experience, which reads well in an interview; on its own it is flown on the $22,500 Premium program.
For the multi-engine stage you move to the Piper Seminole. Bought on its own that rating is the $5,100 multi-engine add-on, and here it is already inside the $89,000. Underpinning all of it is the Redbird MCX full-motion simulator, where approach work, engine failures and bad weather cost a fraction of what they cost airborne. Your instructors are FAA-certified with more than fifteen years of experience each, and the school holds a 5.0 rating across 100+ reviews on Google.
You will fly over this neighborhood several hundred times before you finish, and it becomes the map you measure everything else against.
The long low industrial blocks where rocket engines were built for the space program. From the air it is still the biggest single footprint in Canoga Park, and it is a useful reminder that this neighborhood has been in aerospace a long time.
The playing fields off Lanark St, one of the few big open greens between Sherman Way and Roscoe. A reliable visual checkpoint on the westbound leg, and one most students pick up in their first month.
The north-south spine on the western edge, running from the Santa Susanas down past Warner Center and into the mountains toward the coast. On a night flight it is a solid line of light and easy to identify from thirty miles out.
Rows of pale warehouse roofs between Sherman Way and Roscoe, the working half of the neighborhood. It photographs badly and navigates beautifully, because no other part of the west Valley looks quite like it.
The full sequence from zero hours to airline ready: private, instrument, commercial, multi-engine and the instructor ratings you use to build time. It is a career-length commitment paid down in stages rather than a single check. Stratus Financial handles most of the financing and we run in-house payment plans as well. Come in for a free consultation and we will lay the whole schedule of payments out for you.
Training to commercial and multi-engine typically runs eighteen months to two years flying four or five times a week. After that you instruct while you build toward the 1,500 hours an ATP requires, which is usually another twelve to eighteen months. People who fly less often take longer, and there is no penalty for that beyond time.
Most of our students do. We fly 9 AM to 9 PM seven days a week and the drive from Canoga Park is fifteen minutes on Sherman Way, so early slots before a shift and evening slots after one are both realistic. Consistency matters more than intensity. Four flights a week around a job beats a burst of daily flying followed by a two-month gap.
The FAA does not require one, and plenty of working airline pilots do not have one. Some carriers still prefer it, and a degree can matter for restricted ATP minimums, so it is worth a conversation about your specific plan. What every route needs is the certificates, the hours and a clean record.
Career changers in their late twenties and thirties, mostly. Delivery and logistics people who already work around aircraft, machinists, a few Canoga Park High School graduates who came back to it after a first career did not fit. It is not a rich person's program in this neighborhood. It is a financed one, taken on by people who costed it out first.
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 seriously costing out a professional flying career, the useful next step is an hour in person with the numbers on the table. Call (818) 290-8249 or come east on Sherman Way to 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, any day between 9 AM and 9 PM.
Or Send Us A Message And We'll Come Back To You The Same Day →