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 · Santa Monica
Airline Pilot Training For Santa Monica Career Changers
Zero flight time to airline-ready costs $89,000 and takes a couple of hard years, flown out of Van Nuys Airport, eighteen miles north of Santa Monica.
2,000+Discovery flights flown safely
5.0★Our Google rating, 100+ reviews
35 minFrom Santa Monica to the flight line
9AM–9PMSeven days a week at KVNY
Airline Pilot Program · Santa Monica, Los Angeles County
The Number First, Then The Two Years Behind It
$89,000 covers the entire sequence: private certificate, instrument rating, commercial certificate, multi-engine rating and flight instructor certificate. It is quoted as one figure because a career changer is entitled to see the whole bill on day one instead of meeting it in installments. Stratus Financial handles the lending, we write in-house payment plans, and the meeting where the arithmetic is actually done costs nothing.
A professional track needs somewhere stable to live for years, which is precisely what Santa Monica cannot currently offer. SMO's runway was shortened in 2017, the field is scheduled to close at the end of 2028 under the city's agreement with the FAA, and training capacity there has already contracted sharply. Van Nuys carries you through the certificates and then through the instructing years that follow, with no forced move halfway.
The Santa Monica people who take this on are usually in their thirties or forties, often from the Colorado Avenue tech offices or the agency and production world, with a steady trickle out of Santa Monica College. They are numerate, they have read the forums already, and the conversation goes straight to hiring cycles and what year two really feels like. We would far rather have that argument before a deposit than after one.
How It Works
Five Certificates, In The Only Order They Come In — Start To Certificate
Each one gates the next, and every hour of it is flown from 7900 Balboa Blvd.
1
Private Certificate: The Foundation
Solo flight, cross-country, night, the knowledge test and a checkride. Full time, this is your first three or four months, and it tells you honestly how fast you absorb new skills. Purchased alone the standard program is $10,900, which is a fair way to sense-check what the $89,000 is buying you further down the line.
2
Instrument Rating: The Hard One
Flying on instruments alone, inside cloud, down to approach minimums. Southern California hands you months of genuine marine-layer weather rather than a plastic hood, which is a real advantage. Plenty of the procedural repetition happens in the Redbird MCX, where an approach and a missed can be flown three times inside an hour. On its own, $11,700.
3
Commercial: The Standard Goes Up
Chandelles, lazy eights, eights on pylons, power-off 180s, and complex time in the Piper Arrow II at $349 an hour. The bulk of your total time accumulates through this stage. Conceptually little is new; what changes sharply is the precision expected of you, which is the entire point of the certificate.
4
Multi-Engine In The Seminole
Brief, demanding, and the first time asymmetric thrust becomes something you feel through the rudder rather than read about. Vmc and drag demonstrations, failures, feathering, single-engine approaches. Bought separately the add-on is $5,100 and Seminole time is $649 an hour. Most people rate this the most enjoyable fortnight of the whole program.
5
Instructor Rating, Then The Hours
Teaching is how nearly everybody bridges the gap from roughly 250 hours to the 1,500 an airline transport pilot certificate requires. It pays, it happens at a field with genuine traffic, and it is where you stop being a good student and start being a good pilot, because explaining a maneuver exposes everything you had only half understood.
Transparent Pricing
Airline Pilot Program Pricing For Santa Monica 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 Santa Monica
35 Minutes And 18 Miles From Santa Monica
Eighteen miles of it: the 10 east, then the pass, then off the freeway at Roscoe Blvd and a mile and a half west to Balboa, or off at Victory Blvd and north instead when the Roscoe ramp is stacked. Thirty-five minutes on an ordinary day. The lot outside Suite 108A is free, with no permit and no meter, which stops being a small detail once you are making this trip five days a week for two years.
Treat the commute as part of the plan rather than an inconvenience you will absorb. In your favor, the 405 through the pass runs the wrong way for you at both peaks, so a mid-morning arrival and an evening departure are both realistic. Against you, an incident in the pass has no useful detour except Sepulveda Blvd, which fills within minutes. Some students take a place over the hill for the intensive year. Decide that deliberately at the start rather than discovering it in month four.
Book A Discovery Flight
Book Your Discovery Flight From Santa Monica
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 Aircraft The Program Moves You Through
The early hours are in the Cessna 162 Skycatcher, the Piper Warrior or the Diamond DA20, between $269 and $329 an hour. Complex and commercial work shifts to the Piper Arrow II at $349. The Cirrus SR22 Turbo at $649 is turbocharged, glass-panelled and parachute-equipped, and students actually fly it rather than admire it, so you build real hours behind a modern panel early.
The twin is the Piper Seminole at $649, and the Redbird MCX full-motion simulator absorbs a serious portion of the instrument syllabus. Every stage living under one roof is the operational case for driving over the hill: a career program should never stall while you go hunting for an aircraft type somebody else owns. Spread across two years, that continuity is worth a great deal more than half an hour of freeway.
What You'll See From The Air
What The Westside Teaches You About Airspace
Nowhere in the country builds a busy-airspace pilot faster than the western half of this basin.
🛫
LAX From The North
Four parallel runways and an unbroken stream of heavy metal, a few miles down the beach from the pier. Learning to plan around that Class B instead of hiding from it is a real part of what training here buys you.
🏢
The Colorado Avenue Corridor
The wide, low office buildings between the Metro line and the freeway, where a fair number of our Santa Monica career changers are currently sitting. Identifying your own roof from three thousand feet is its own particular satisfaction.
🎓
Santa Monica College
The main campus on Pico, a dense block of buildings and playing fields dropped into a residential grid. It sends us a reliable trickle of people who would rather train for a licensed trade than sit a fourth year of tuition.
🌊
The Shoreline South To Palos Verdes
From the bay the coast runs unbroken past the marina, the airport, the refinery stacks and the South Bay to the headland. It is the most-used visual reference on this side of town and you will follow it hundreds of times.
Questions From Santa Monica
Airline Pilot Program FAQ
$89,000, zero time through to airline-ready, taking in the private certificate, instrument rating, commercial certificate, multi-engine rating and flight instructor certificate. Ratings can also be bought singly if you would rather pace the spending, the instrument rating at $11,700 or the multi-engine add-on at $5,100 for instance. Financing runs through Stratus Financial, with in-house payment plans alongside it.
Flown full time without long gaps, the run through flight instructor is generally eighteen months to two years. Instructing then carries most pilots toward the 1,500 hours an ATP requires. Frequency decides everything: three or four flights a week sustains momentum, one a week does not, and a stretched calendar quietly increases the total you spend.
It affects where you base one. The runway was shortened in 2017, closure is scheduled for the end of 2028, and training capacity at the field has contracted sharply already. A professional path is several years of certificates followed by several more years of instructing, so it needs a field with a longer horizon than that. Van Nuys is the closest one to the Westside that has it.
Yes, provided you schedule around the 405 rather than into it. Eighteen miles, thirty-five minutes, and counterflow at both peaks. Since we operate 9 AM to 9 PM seven days a week, most Westside students take one long mid-morning block or an evening block instead of two short trips. A few relocate to the Valley for the intensive stretch; plenty never do.
The FAA first-class medical, before anything else. It is the one requirement capable of ending a professional plan outright, and you want that answer while your bank balance is still intact. After that, bring a real budget and a real calendar to the consultation at Suite 108A and we will build the sequence around those rather than around a brochure.
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, 35 Minutes From Santa Monica
A decision on this scale deserves an hour of frank conversation and a hard look at the arithmetic before any money moves. Call (818) 290-8249 or come to 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, where our Google rating is a straight 5.0, and we will take the $89,000 apart line by line with you.
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
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