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.
Zero Time To Airline Ready · Northridge
Airline Pilot Training Near Northridge, CA
The Airline Pilot Program takes someone with no flight time to a career-ready commercial pilot, and the airport is five miles down Balboa from the CSUN campus.
2,000+Discovery flights flown safely
5.0★Our Google rating, 100+ reviews
12 minFrom Northridge to the flight line
9AM–9PMSeven days a week at KVNY
Airline Pilot Program · Northridge, Los Angeles County
Costing Out A Professional Pilot Career
The Airline Pilot Program costs $89,000 and covers the whole path: private certificate, instrument rating, commercial certificate, multi-engine rating and a flight instructor certificate. None of that is a deposit with surprises stacked behind it. Bought separately those ratings run $10,900, $11,700 and $5,100 before you count any hour building, and that arithmetic is worth doing carefully before you commit to anything.
Northridge is the most obvious place in the Valley to have this conversation. Around 38,000 people are enrolled at Cal State Northridge, and a good number of them are working out what a professional career actually costs and how quickly it pays for itself. The airport is five miles down Balboa Boulevard from campus, close enough that flight training can sit alongside a semester rather than replacing one.
The timeline deserves the same honesty as the price. Flying full time, most people hold commercial and instrument ratings within twelve to eighteen months. Then comes the long part, building toward the 1,500 hours an airline requires, usually by instructing and being paid to do it. Financing runs through Stratus Financial or in-house payment plans, and how the payments are staged tends to matter more than the headline figure.
How It Works
The Ratings, In Order — Start To Certificate
Five stages, and you do not move on until an examiner has signed off the one before.
1
Private Pilot Certificate
Sixty to seventy hours, a knowledge test and a practical test. This is the stage that tells you whether you enjoy the work rather than the idea of the work, and everything stacked above it depends on how well you learn to fly here. Rushing this part is the most expensive thing you can do in the entire program.
2
Instrument Rating
Procedures, published approaches, cloud and night, all of it flown on instruments alone. On its own the rating is $11,700; here it is already inside the program price. Southern California suits the work: busy airspace, real approaches, a marine layer that lays down genuine conditions on early summer mornings, and the Redbird MCX simulator for procedures between flights.
3
Commercial Certificate And Hour Building
Tighter tolerances on every maneuver and 250 hours of total time to qualify. Much of that time is cross-country flying you plan and fly yourself, a good deal of it in the Piper Arrow II as the complex airplane. This is the longest stage in calendar terms, and how disciplined you are with the schedule decides how long it runs.
4
Multi-Engine Rating
Ten to fifteen hours in the Piper Seminole covering asymmetric thrust, Vmc, engine-out procedures and single-engine approaches. It is $5,100 as a standalone add-on and part of the program price here. Every airline job you are aiming at is flown on more than one engine, so this is not a stage anyone skips.
5
Flight Instructor, Then The Hours To ATP Minimums
Most people build the balance of the 1,500 hours by instructing, which pays something and which forces you to understand the material properly for the first time. After that you meet ATP minimums and start applying. At the consultation we give you the realistic version of that timeline for your circumstances, not the best case.
Transparent Pricing
Airline Pilot Program Pricing For Northridge Students
Every figure below is the real, published price. No "call for a quote," no hidden block-time minimums.
Complete Career Track
Zero To Airline Ready
Everything from your first lesson to the flight hours and ratings an airline wants to see. One program, one price.
$89,000complete
- ✓Private Pilot Certificate
- ✓Instrument Rating
- ✓Commercial Pilot Certificate
- ✓Multi-Engine Rating
- ✓Time-building toward ATP minimums
- ✓Financing available through Stratus
Or Build It Stage By Stage
Prefer to pay as you progress? The same ratings, priced individually.
$10,900stage one
- ✓Private Pilot — $10,900
- ✓Instrument Rating — $11,700
- ✓Multi-Engine Rating — $5,100
- ✓Commercial & time-building quoted on your hours
Start With One Hour
Before committing to a career, find out whether you love the flying.
$229discovery flight
- ✓You fly it yourself, hands-on
- ✓Loggable toward the program
- ✓100% credited if you enroll in 24 hrs
$89,000 is a career investment, not a hobby purchase — and it is why we publish it openly. Financing is available through Stratus Financial and in-house payment plans, and a free in-person consultation at Van Nuys will map the whole timeline against your budget before you commit a dollar.
Getting Here From Northridge
12 Minutes And 5 Miles From Northridge
You will be making this drive four or five times a week for a long time, so it is worth being precise about it. From the CSUN area, Nordhoff Street east to Balboa Boulevard and then south is about four miles and rarely takes more than fifteen minutes. From the north end of Northridge, Balboa southbound from Devonshire does the entire trip on one road, twelve minutes when it is clear.
The thing to plan around is the campus. Nordhoff and Reseda between Zelzah and Lindley slow down at class changes, and the 118 westbound stacks up in the late afternoon, so people on this track usually take the first blocks of the morning or the evening ones. We are open 9 AM to 9 PM seven days a week. Parking is free and on site, which stops being a small detail after two years of near-daily visits.
Book A Discovery Flight
Book Your Discovery Flight From Northridge
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.
No Weather Cancellations
Redbird Simulator
$189
1 hour
Full-motion simulator with an instructor. No weight limit, no medical needed.
Reserve →
Most Popular
Discovery Flight For One
$229
60 minutes
You in the pilot's seat over Los Angeles, hands on the controls the whole way.
Book Now →
Most Gifted
Discovery Flight For Two
$299
60 minutes
One of you flies hands-on, the other takes in the skyline. Share the story.
Book Now →
The Showstopper
Luxury Discovery Flight
$499
60 minutes
Premium Cirrus SR22 glass cockpit and extended air time over the LA basin.
Book Now →
The Pro Move
Multi-Engine Discovery
$499
60 minutes
Twin-engine Piper Seminole and a genuine look at the professional path.
Book Now →
The Aircraft You'll Fly
The Fleet You Will Move Through
The airplanes change as the ratings stack up. The Cessna 162 Skycatcher, the Diamond DA20 and the Piper Warrior carry the primary hours at $179 an hour wet for enrolled students. The Piper Arrow II is the retractable-gear complex airplane the commercial certificate calls for. The Cirrus SR22 Turbo, flown on the $22,500 Premium program, puts a full glass panel in front of you, which is the philosophy you meet again in a jet.
Multi-engine training is flown in the Piper Seminole, the $5,100 add-on rating when it is bought by itself. The Redbird MCX full-motion simulator carries a large share of the instrument phase, and using it well is one of the few genuine ways to keep the cost of a program this size under control. Instructors here are FAA-certified with 15 or more years of experience, which counts most in the stages where the flying is not the hard part.
What You'll See From The Air
The Ground You Will Learn First
Four references you will use from your first lesson through to your last.
🛫
Van Nuys Airport
Two parallel runways and one of the highest movement counts in general aviation anywhere. Learning to work inside busy towered airspace from day one is an advantage later, because a congested frequency never becomes a novelty.
🎓
The CSUN Campus
Flat roofs, parking structures and playing fields filling the block bounded by Nordhoff, Reseda, Plummer and Zelzah. It is the easiest visual fix in Northridge and it lines up close enough to a northbound departure that you will pick it out on the climb.
🌃
The Valley Grid After Dark
Night flying is part of the program, and the Valley from 3,500 feet at night is the clearest geography lesson you will get: Balboa, Reseda and Tampa as straight lit lines, the 118 across the top, and the black gap of the Sepulveda Basin south of the field.
🏔️
The Santa Susana Mountains
The high ground closing the northwest corner of the Valley, with the Simi Hills below it. Much of the airwork and most of the later engine-out training happens out that way, because there is altitude, room and nothing built underneath.
Questions From Northridge
Airline Pilot Program FAQ
The whole path from no flight time at all to a commercial pilot holding instrument and multi-engine ratings and a flight instructor certificate. Priced individually, private is $10,900, instrument is $11,700 and multi-engine is $5,100, and the program covers the commercial certificate and the instructor rating on top of those. Financing is available through Stratus Financial and through in-house payment plans.
Plenty of people train while they are enrolled somewhere, and being five miles down Balboa Boulevard is what makes it workable. Blocks fit into gaps between classes, and we fly 9 AM to 9 PM seven days a week. This is our own program and is not run through or credited by any university, so the schedule is entirely yours to arrange.
Flying full time, most people are commercial and instrument rated in twelve to eighteen months. Then comes hour building toward the 1,500 an airline requires, usually done by instructing, and that is the part that varies most. Part time stretches everything out. We will give you a realistic timeline at the free consultation rather than a marketing one.
It is one of the better ones. Busy towered airspace, two parallel runways, real instrument conditions in the marine layer season, and weather that lets you fly most days of the year, so you lose fewer months to cancellations than students in most of the country. Living five miles away in Northridge means losing fewer still.
Come in for the free consultation at 7900 Balboa Boulevard, Suite 108A, with your questions about money and timeline ready. Those are the two that decide it for almost everyone. Plenty of people fly a $229 discovery flight before they commit, and enrolling within twenty-four hours puts all of that cost toward the training.
Book It Or Gift It
Fly It Yourself, Or Give The Flight To Someone Else
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
Two Seats
The Nice One
Twin Engine
Discovery Flight For One
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 It Or Gift It
Same Price Either Way
Discovery Flight For Two
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 It Or Gift It
Same Price Either Way
Luxury Discovery Flight
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
Bring A PassengerInstructor + 2 is our maximum+$100
$499Book It Or Gift It
Same Price Either Way
Multi-Engine Seminole
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 It Or Gift It
Same Price Either Way
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.
Courses & Pricing
The Rest Of What We Teach
★★★★★
5.0 Rating
100+ Google Reviews
Course prices are packages, not hourly rates - the aircraft, your instructor, ground school and simulator time are all in the figure. Van Nuys Airport, KVNY. Financing Available Through Stratus & In-House Plans.
01
Teen Flight Training Ages 10–15
Starting before it is legal to solo.
$4,200
02
Solo Certificate
Enough training to take an aircraft around the pattern alone.
$5,500
03
Sport Pilot
A real certificate, fewer hours, narrower privileges.
$8,400
04
Comprehensive Private Pilot
Private with flight time, ground instruction and materials bundled.
$15,900
05
Premium Private Pilot
The most flight time before your checkride - 80 logged hours.
$22,500
All Prices In USD. 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, Van Nuys, CA 91406 · Open 9 AM–9 PM, Seven Days. Free In-Person Tour Of The School
Loved On Google
Over 100 Reviews. 5.0 Stars.
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
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...
See Discovery Flight Details — $229
Reviews shown verbatim, exactly as each reviewer published them.
Talk To A Real Instructor
Train For The Airlines, 12 Minutes From Northridge
Northridge is full of people deciding what to do with the next thirty years, and this is one of the few options where the numbers can be laid out completely before you start. Call (818) 290-8249 and we will book you a free consultation at Suite 108A, with the full cost breakdown and a timeline you can hold us to.
Or Send Us A Message And We'll Come Back To You The Same Day →Airline Pilot Program
$89,000
Zero Time To Airline Ready
Book A Discovery Flight
Full Airline Pilot Program Details