A complete career path from zero hours to airline-ready, flown out of Van Nuys, eight miles from Studio City and priced at $89,000 with financing available.
Studio City is full of people who are very good at something unstable. Production, post, music, freelance everything - the money can be excellent and the ground can move under you without notice. That is the background a lot of career-change pilots come from, and it is worth saying plainly: airline flying is the opposite trade. Slow to enter, highly structured, seniority-based, and once you are established, unusually predictable.
The Airline Pilot Program is $89,000 and runs from no license at all to airline-ready: private, instrument, commercial and multi-engine, in that order. It is flown out of Van Nuys, fifteen minutes from Studio City on the 101, which matters more than it sounds. Full-time training works best when you treat it like a job you commute to, and an eight-mile commute is a job you will keep showing up for.
On the money: $89,000 is the program price, and financing through Stratus Financial or an in-house payment plan is available if you are not paying it in one go. Van Nuys is also a serious environment to learn in - Class D, constant traffic, Burbank's Class C next door, terrain on three sides and a marine layer in spring. You will make more real decisions in your first hundred hours here than in a year at a quiet field.
Five stages, each a qualification in its own right, flown in order.
The foundation, and roughly the first quarter of the program. Solo flight, cross-country navigation, night flying, the FAA written exam and a checkride with an examiner. Everything after this stage assumes you can already fly the airplane without having to think about it.
Flying by reference to instruments alone, in cloud and at night, on real IFR clearances in real airspace. Los Angeles is one of the better places in the country to learn this, because the system is busy and the controllers are quick. Bought separately the Instrument Rating is $11,700.
The tolerances tighten and you gain the legal right to be paid to fly. This is where the Piper Arrow II comes in with its retractable gear and constant-speed propeller, and where the flying starts to look professional rather than merely competent.
Flown in the Piper Seminole. Engine-out handling, Vmc demonstrations, single-engine approaches and landings. It is a short rating in hours but it is the one that makes a commercial pilot employable. As a standalone add-on it is $5,100.
Between a commercial certificate and an ATP you need to build time toward 1,500 hours, and most people do that instructing or flying other commercial work. Van Nuys is one of the busiest general aviation airports in the world, so more of that work exists on this field than on most. We will talk through it before you spend anything.
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.
Van Nuys Airport is eight miles northwest of Studio City. The straightforward run is the 101 west to Balboa Boulevard, then north through Encino and Lake Balboa to 7900 Balboa, just south of Roscoe. Fifteen minutes for most of the day. If you are training full time you will be driving against the heavy direction both ways, which is one of the quiet advantages of this schedule.
From the south end of Studio City, Laurel Canyon Boulevard north to Burbank Boulevard and then west is a reasonable surface-street alternative. From the Colfax and Riverside side, Victory Boulevard runs straight across to Balboa. Parking is free and on site in the lot at 7900 Balboa, which is worth something when you are on the field five days a week for the better part of a year. Check in at Suite 108A.
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 →The program moves you deliberately up the fleet. You start in the Cessna 162 Skycatcher or the Piper Warrior at $269 an hour, or the Diamond DA20 at $329, learning to fly by hand and by eye. The Piper Arrow II at $349 an hour then brings retractable gear and a constant-speed propeller for the complex and commercial work.
After that come the two that matter most for employability: the Piper Seminole twin at $649 an hour, where the multi-engine rating is flown, and the Cirrus SR22 Turbo, also $649, whose full glass cockpit is the closest thing in the fleet to a modern flight deck. The Redbird MCX full-motion simulator carries much of the instrument and procedures load, which is how professional training is done everywhere.
Four features you will learn to identify at a glance, because you will fly past them several hundred times.
Five miles east of Studio City, with Class C airspace over the east Valley. Learning to work around it, and eventually into it, is a large part of what makes training in this basin worth the money.
The freeway threads the notch between the Santa Monica Mountains and the Hollywood Hills. From the air it is the clearest line between the Valley and the basin, and a useful reference on nearly every flight to the southeast.
The channel bends north through the neighborhood toward Universal City. It is a fixed, unmistakable line on the ground, and low-time pilots lean on it more than they tend to admit.
The wide flat green between Studio City and the airport, sitting directly under the departure and arrival paths at Van Nuys. You will cross it on very nearly every flight of your training.
It is $89,000, taking you from zero hours to airline-ready: private pilot certificate, instrument rating, commercial certificate and multi-engine rating. Financing is available through Stratus Financial, and we also run in-house payment plans. Book a free consultation at Suite 108A and we will go through the numbers line by line before you commit to anything.
Flown full time it is a matter of months rather than years, though the honest answer depends on how many days a week you fly, the weather, and how quickly examiner slots come up. Part-time students take considerably longer. The fifteen-minute drive from Studio City is a real factor here: students who live close fly more often and finish sooner.
Many people do, but be realistic about it. Flying twice a week will get you a private certificate; it will not get you to an airline in any sensible timeframe. If your work runs in blocks, the usual approach is to train hard between jobs and keep ticking over during them. Being open 9 AM to 9 PM every day is what makes that workable.
There is no FAA upper age limit on training, and airline pilots in the US currently retire at 65. That is the arithmetic worth doing before you spend $89,000 - how many years of seniority you would realistically accrue. Come in for the free consultation and we will work through it with you rather than sell you something.
Because of what you learn here. Van Nuys is one of the busiest general aviation airports in the world, sitting in complex Los Angeles airspace with Burbank next door and terrain on three sides. You finish comfortable with things that pilots trained at quiet fields spend their first professional year catching up on, and you sleep at home in Studio City throughout.
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.
This is a large decision and a large amount of money, and it deserves an hour of conversation before anything else happens. Call (818) 290-8249 or come to Suite 108A at 7900 Balboa Boulevard - the consultation is free and it is a fifteen-minute drive from Studio City.
Or Send Us A Message And We'll Come Back To You The Same Day →