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 · Sherman Oaks
Airline Pilot Program For Sherman Oaks
A structured route from no experience to airline-ready, flown out of Van Nuys, twelve minutes from Sherman Oaks and priced at $89,000 with financing available.
2,000+Discovery flights flown safely
5.0★Our Google rating, 100+ reviews
12 minFrom Sherman Oaks to the flight line
9AM–9PMSeven days a week at KVNY
Airline Pilot Program · Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles County
Costing Out An Airline Career From Sherman Oaks
The Airline Pilot Program is $89,000, and it takes somebody with no flight experience to the point where they hold a commercial certificate with an instrument rating and multi-engine privileges, which are the qualifications an airline hiring desk actually asks about. It is a career change with a real number attached to it. We would rather you see that number at the start than be walked up to it over three meetings.
Sherman Oaks sends us a specific kind of candidate. People in their late twenties to early forties who have already had one career: post-production, law, finance, medicine, a family business somewhere on Ventura Boulevard. They are used to reading a contract and costing out a decision, so the conversation tends to open on cash flow and timeline rather than on the romance of flying. That suits how we prefer to talk about it.
Proximity matters more for this program than for anything else we run. Full-time progression means being at the airport four or five days a week for well over a year, plus ground study around it. From Sherman Oaks that is a twelve-minute drive each way instead of an hour each way, and across eighteen months that is the difference between a plan that holds and a plan that quietly stops.
How It Works
The Route From Zero To The Right Seat — Start To Certificate
Five stages, each with its own certificate or rating, flown in sequence out of Van Nuys.
1
Private Pilot Certificate
The foundation, and not skippable. Roughly the first sixty to seventy hours: solo, cross-country, night flying, the FAA written exam, then a practical test with a designated examiner. Everything later in the program is built on the habits formed here, which is why we are unhurried about this stage in particular.
2
Instrument Rating
Flying by reference to instruments alone, in cloud and at night. Approaches, holds, en route procedures, and a great deal of time in the Redbird MCX full-motion simulator, where a missed approach can be reflown immediately and costs nothing to repeat. Taken on its own, this rating is $11,700.
3
Commercial Pilot Certificate
The certificate that makes it legal to be paid to fly. Tighter tolerances, complex aircraft time in the Piper Arrow II, and the commercial maneuvers: chandelles, lazy eights, eights on pylons. This is the stage where flying stops being merely correct and starts being precise.
4
Multi-Engine Rating
Flown in the Piper Seminole. Engine-out handling, Vmc demonstrations, single-engine approaches, and the systems knowledge that comes with two of everything. Bought separately by a pilot who already holds a commercial certificate, this rating is $5,100.
5
Time Building Toward The ATP
Airlines want 1,500 hours for an unrestricted ATP certificate, and the usual way to build them is instructing. We will walk you through the CFI route, how the reduced restricted-ATP minimums work and who qualifies for them, and what the hiring picture looks like right now, before you commit a dollar.
Transparent Pricing
Airline Pilot Program Pricing For Sherman Oaks 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 Sherman Oaks
12 Minutes And 6 Miles From Sherman Oaks
Sherman Oaks to 7900 Balboa Boulevard, Suite 108A is six miles and about twelve minutes. The standard run is the 405 north, off at Roscoe, west two miles to Balboa, then south along the west side of the field. Northbound in the morning is the light direction; the queue everyone in Sherman Oaks knows from the Sepulveda Pass builds the opposite way.
For a program that has you at the field most days for a year and a half, the surface route is worth learning too. Ventura Boulevard west to Balboa, then straight north through the Sepulveda Basin, gets you to the hangar without touching a freeway, and it is the route most of our full-time students settle into. Parking on site is free, which over eighteen months of near-daily attendance is not a trivial line item.
Book A Discovery Flight
Book Your Discovery Flight From Sherman Oaks
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
Training Aircraft Across The Whole Program
You start in the Cessna 162 Skycatcher or the Diamond DA20, move on to the Piper Warrior, then to the Piper Arrow II at $349 an hour for complex and commercial work. Instrument training is split between the airplanes and the Redbird MCX full-motion simulator, which is the single largest cost saving available anywhere in this program and the reason we lean on it hard.
The multi-engine stage is flown in the Piper Seminole at $649 an hour. The Cirrus SR22 Turbo, also $649, provides glass-cockpit and avionics experience closer to what you will meet in a transport aircraft than anything else on the ramp here. All of it is taught by FAA-certified instructors with fifteen years or more of experience behind them.
What You'll See From The Air
The Airspace You Will Learn In
Van Nuys sits inside some of the busiest and most instructive airspace in the country.
🛫
Van Nuys Airport
Two parallel runways and one of the highest movement counts of any general aviation airport in the world. Training here means working a busy tower from your first lesson rather than your fiftieth, which shows up later in how you sound on the radio.
✈️
Hollywood Burbank Airport
Eight miles east, with its own Class C airspace and airline traffic on approach. You will route around it, talk to its controllers, and eventually land there, which is about as close to a rehearsal for the job as light aircraft training gets.
🌆
The Downtown Skyline
Visible to the east from over Sherman Oaks on almost any clear day, with Century City and the Westside off to the right of it. It anchors the mental map of the basin that every pilot working out of this field eventually builds.
🏔️
The Sepulveda Pass Corridor
The gap in the Santa Monica Mountains that the 405 climbs out of Sherman Oaks. It is the standard visual transition between the Valley and the Westside, and a lesson in terrain, wind and airspace all at the same time.
Questions From Sherman Oaks
Airline Pilot Program FAQ
The full sequence: private pilot, instrument rating, commercial certificate and multi-engine rating, with the flight time, ground instruction and simulator work attached to each. It does not cover FAA examiner fees, your medical certificate, or the hours you build after the commercial stage. You get the itemized version at the consultation rather than a headline figure and a handshake.
Through Stratus Financial, or through an in-house payment plan tied to the stage of training you are at, and most people end up using some combination of the two. The consultation is free and includes a plain look at monthly cost against your timeline. There is no advantage to us in you starting a program you cannot finish.
Full time, most people are through the commercial and multi-engine stages in twelve to eighteen months, then build hours toward the 1,500 required for an unrestricted ATP certificate. Part time roughly doubles that. Living twelve minutes from the field, as Sherman Oaks does, is one of the few variables in this genuinely inside your control.
Some people do, particularly those with project-based or flexible work, which describes a fair slice of this neighborhood. We fly 9 AM to 9 PM seven days a week, so early mornings and evenings are usable. Be honest with yourself about it, though: part-time progression is slower and, hour for hour, ends up costing more.
No. The FAA does not require one for any certificate, and airlines have largely moved away from treating it as a hard requirement. A degree can reduce the hours needed to qualify for a restricted ATP certificate, which is worth understanding before you set a timeline. We can walk you through how those minimums work and whether they apply to you.
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 Sherman Oaks
This is an $89,000 decision and it deserves a conversation rather than a brochure. Call (818) 290-8249, make the twelve-minute drive from Sherman Oaks, and sit down with an instructor who will give you the real timeline and the real numbers.
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