Every training program, every published price, in text, on this page, readable on a phone at a red light. Private pilot from $10,900. Instrument rating $11,700. Enrolled students fly at $179 an hour wet. You should not have to ring a flight school to find out what it costs.
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.
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...
Go looking for flight school prices in Los Angeles and you will find three things: call for pricing, a contact form, and a photograph of a laminated price list taped to a counter, dated 2021, at an angle, slightly out of focus. One of the largest operations on this field publishes theirs exactly that way. You cannot search it, you cannot copy it into a spreadsheet, a screen reader cannot read it, and nobody has updated it in years.
Ours is text. All of it, on this page, in the same place, updated when it changes. That is not a marketing position so much as basic manners toward someone trying to work out whether they can afford to start.
There is a practical reason too. If you cannot see a price before you visit, you cannot compare schools, and if you cannot compare schools you end up choosing on the strength of a sales conversation. That is a bad way to spend $10,900.
Three things follow from selling outcomes instead of hours, and all three of them are in your favor.
A program price covers the aircraft, the dual instruction, the simulator time, the ground school and the books. It is fixed on the day you enroll. If the price of avgas doubles next spring, that is our problem rather than yours.
That is the single-engine package rate and the only hourly figure we publish. Wet means fuel and oil are already inside it. It is the rate every private pilot program on this page is built from, which is what makes a fixed total possible.
When a school earns on every extra hour, nobody is under pressure to make a lesson efficient. When the price is fixed at enrollment, the only way we both win is if you are ready for your checkride on schedule.
Not a broker rental and not a tired trainer with 12,000 hours on the airframe. Every airplane here is ours, inspected on our schedule, and flown by our instructors every day.
Single-engine training on the Standard and Comprehensive private pilot programs is flown in the Cessna, Piper and Diamond aircraft. The Premium program is flown in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo with its full glass cockpit, and the Multi-Engine add-on is flown in the Seminole.
FAA-approved, fully enclosed, and it moves. Procedures, instrument scan, radio work and emergencies all transfer straight to the aircraft — and it is never canceled for weather.
Simulator hours are built into every private pilot program — 2 hours on Standard and Premium, 5 hours on Comprehensive. A standalone session is $189.
Two minutes at 7900 Balboa Blvd — the aircraft, the instructors and the airport these programs buy you time at.
LA Flight School, 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, Van Nuys, CA 91406. Call (818) 290-8249, 9am to 9pm, seven days.
Every instructor here holds a commercial or ATP certificate plus a CFI and a current medical, and the instructor is legally pilot in command on every flight you make together. In Los Angeles airspace that is not a formality — it is the difference between a first lesson and an ordeal.
There are 11 instructors on the team, which is the real reason lessons happen when the schedule says they will. You are matched to an instructor when you enroll, and if the fit is wrong you can change without it costing you anything.
Instruction time, the pre-flight brief and the debrief are all inside the program price. There is no separate hourly instruction charge to discover on an invoice later.
On Google, the same three things come up again and again.
The most repeated compliment in our reviews is not the aircraft or the price — it is the debrief.
Eleven instructors and a fleet we own means lessons happen when we say they will.
The number you enroll at is the number you finish at. Reviewers mention this constantly.
Published prices, printed inclusions, all built on the $179 an hour wet package rate.
The FAA minimum path, flown consistently. Best if you can fly two or three times a week.
Room to finish on a real-life schedule, with more than three times the ground school.
The most flight time before your checkride — twice the FAA minimum.
All-in program prices. Each one includes flight instruction, ground school, briefings, training materials and a syllabus.
| Program | Price |
|---|---|
| Teen Aviation Course, ages 10 to 15 | $4,200 |
| Multi-Engine add-on rating (Piper Seminole) | $5,100 |
| Solo Certificate program | $5,500 |
| Sport Pilot certificate | $8,400 |
| Private Pilot, Standard | $10,900 |
| Instrument Rating | $11,700 |
| Private Pilot, Comprehensive | $15,900 |
| Private Pilot, Premium | $22,500 |
| Commercial and airline, zero to airline | $89,000 |
| Redbird MCX simulator, per session | $189 |
| Single-engine package rate for enrolled students, wet | $179/hr |
Financing is available from $2,500 down with monthly plans. Program prices are fixed at enrollment for the duration of that program.
Included. Not discounted, not bundled, not billed at a reduced figure — included, at zero additional cost, in every program price above. That covers ground school, the pre-flight briefing where your instructor explains the maneuver, and the post-flight debrief where you find out how it went.
This matters more than it sounds. Briefings are where a great deal of the learning happens, and at schools that bill them separately by the hour they are also where a great deal of the invoice hides.
| Ground item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Ground school | included in all programs |
| Pre-flight and post-flight briefings | included |
| Syllabus, logbook and charts | included |
| Checkride preparation and mock oral | included |
Two things in your training are not run by us and never have been. You will sit an FAA knowledge test at an approved testing center, and your checkride is conducted by an independent designated pilot examiner appointed by the FAA. You will also need a medical certificate from an aviation medical examiner before your first solo — book it early, because it is the one item that can genuinely stop your training. We help you schedule all three; none of them are billed by us.
A discovery flight is a real lesson. You fly the aircraft, the time is loggable dual instruction, and the full amount is credited against any program if you enroll within 24 hours.
Full motion, FAA approved, on the ground. Never canceled for weather.
You fly it, instructor included, credited in full on enrollment within 24 hours. 90 min $299, 120 min $399.
The SR22 Turbo, glass cockpit, two passengers, over the coast. 90 min $699, 120 min $949.
Book the CirrusAlso available: Discovery Flight For Two from $299 and the Piper Seminole twin from $499. All are credited in full against a program on enrollment within 24 hours.
Sixty minutes over Los Angeles with your hands on the controls, logged as real dual instruction. Enroll within 24 hours and the $229 comes off your program. Call (818) 290-8249, 9am to 9pm, seven days. 7900 Balboa Blvd, Suite 108A, Van Nuys.
Programs run from $4,200 for the teen course to $89,000 for the zero-to-airline program. Private pilot is $10,900 Standard, $15,900 Comprehensive and $22,500 Premium, the instrument rating is $11,700, sport pilot is $8,400 and the multi-engine add-on is $5,100. Enrolled students fly single-engine aircraft at $179 an hour wet.
A sport pilot certificate is $8,400 and a private pilot certificate is $10,900 in the Standard program at Van Nuys Airport. The Comprehensive program is $15,900 for 60 hours of logged flight time. A commercial certificate as part of the full zero-to-airline program is $89,000.
$179 an hour is the wet single-engine package rate for enrolled students, so fuel and oil are already inside the number. It is the rate the $10,900, $15,900 and $22,500 private pilot programs are built from. Enrolled students train on package pricing rather than being billed hour by hour.
No. Ground school, pre-flight briefings, post-flight debriefs and checkride preparation are included in every program price on this page. The Standard private pilot program includes 3 hours of formal ground school and the Comprehensive program includes 10 hours, on top of the briefing that bookends every lesson.
No. Program prices are fixed at the price you enroll at for the full duration of that program, so the $10,900 you start at is the $10,900 you finish at. If you are comparing us with anyone else, ask them the same question and get the answer in writing before you pay a deposit.
$189 a session in the Redbird MCX, which is a full-motion FAA-approved simulator that is never canceled for weather. Simulator time is also built into every private pilot program — 2 hours on the Standard and Premium programs and 5 hours on the Comprehensive.
Yes. Programs start from $2,500 down with monthly payment plans available, and we work with aviation lenders as well as offering in-house plans. Because the program price is fixed at enrollment, your monthly figure is calculated against a number that will not move while you train.
A $229 discovery flight, which is 60 minutes with an instructor and you flying the aircraft, credited back in full if you enroll within 24 hours. After that, the least expensive full certificate is the sport pilot at $8,400, and the Standard private pilot program is $10,900.
The three private pilot packages, what each one includes, the financing options and a realistic timeline built around how often you can actually fly. Sent to you in one email. Nobody will pressure you.
Loved 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.
Aviation News
Notes from the flight line at Van Nuys — weather, regulation changes, checkride questions and the cost of training, written up as they come.
Open 7 days · 9:00 AM – 9:00 PM
Los Angeles Flight School
