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.

It costs $10,900 to become a private pilot at Van Nuys, and $89,000 to go the whole way from zero to an airline job. You do not pay either of those at once. Becoming a pilot is a series of separate certificates bought over several years, each with its own published price. Sport is $8,400. Instrument is $11,700. Here is what every stage buys.
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
Two Seats
The Nice One
Twin Engine
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
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
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 It Or Gift It
Same Price Either Way
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.
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...
The question has two answers, because there are two very different destinations, and most of what you find online blurs them into one meaningless figure.
If you want to fly yourself and three friends to Santa Barbara on a Saturday, you want a private pilot certificate. That is $10,900 with us on the Standard program, and what a private pilot license costs breaks it down in full. Then you are done. There is no next stage unless you decide you want one.
If you want to be paid to fly, you need the private certificate, then an instrument rating at $11,700, then a commercial certificate, then almost certainly a flight instructor certificate so you can build the 1,500 hours 14 CFR 61.159 requires before an airline will hire you. Bought as one program that path is $89,000.
The sections below price each stage on its own, because that is how you will actually pay for it: one certificate at a time, deciding after each whether to keep going. Pilot training cost puts every fee we publish on a single table.

Every stage on the path with its FAA hour minimum and our published program price. Each price includes flight instruction, ground school, briefings and training materials.
| Stage and item | Hours or price |
|---|---|
| 1. Sport Pilot | |
| FAA minimum, FAR 61.313 | 20 hours |
| Our Sport Pilot program | $8,400 |
| FAA medical certificate | not required |
| 2. Private Pilot | |
| FAA minimum, 14 CFR 61.109 | 40 hours |
| Standard program, 40 hrs logged | $10,900 |
| Comprehensive program, 60 hrs logged | $15,900 |
| Premium program, Cirrus SR22 Turbo | $22,500 |
| 3. Instrument Rating | |
| Instrument time, FAR 61.65 | 40 hours |
| Cross-country PIC prerequisite | 50 hours |
| Our Instrument Rating program | $11,700 |
| Redbird MCX simulator session | $189 |
| 4. Commercial Pilot | |
| Total time, FAR 61.129 | 250 hours |
| Complex or TAA time required | 10 hours |
| Multi-Engine add-on rating | $5,100 |
| Inside the zero-to-airline program | $89,000 |
| 5. Flight Instructor | |
| Prerequisite | commercial certificate |
| Hours before an airline will hire, 14 CFR 61.159 | 1,500 hours |
| Inside the zero-to-airline program | $89,000 |
Two programs sit outside this ladder. The Solo Certificate program is $5,500 and takes you to the point of flying the aircraft alone, which is the milestone most people are really chasing. The teen course for ages 10 to 15 is $4,200. Enrolled students fly single-engine aircraft at $179 an hour wet, and that package rate is what every program price above is built from.
The same five stages as the table, in plain language.

The cheapest legal way into a cockpit as pilot in command. Day VFR, one passenger, light aircraft only. If your goal is weekend flying and your budget is the binding constraint, start here and stop here.

The one almost everybody wants. Night, cross-country, passengers, any aircraft you are checked out in. Roughly four out of five people who walk through our door are buying this certificate and nothing else.

Not a certificate, a rating added to the one you already hold. It lets you fly in cloud and in the airway system. In Los Angeles the practical value is the marine layer that shuts VFR pilots out of the coast most mornings from May to July.

The certificate that makes it legal to be paid, and it sits inside the $89,000 zero-to-airline program. The training itself is short. The 250 hours FAR 61.129 requires is the long part, and continuity is what decides how quickly you get there.

Nearly everyone who wants an airline job gets one, for a reason that has little to do with teaching: it is the only way to build 1,500 hours while being paid rather than paying. You will also learn more in your first year instructing than in all your own training combined.

The Solo Certificate program is $5,500 and the teen course for ages 10 to 15 is $4,200. A Redbird MCX session at $189 is the cheapest useful hour in aviation at every one of the five stages above.
None of them is the hourly figure. All three are about how you train.
Two lessons a week and the skills compound. One lesson a month and you buy the same lesson four times. This is why the Comprehensive Private Pilot Program at $15,900 exists: it builds in 60 hours of logged flight time so a student with an unpredictable diary can still finish inside a fixed price.
Ground knowledge is free to acquire and expensive to be taught. A student who arrives already understanding the maneuver they are about to fly needs fewer repeats in the air. Every program includes ground school — 3 hours on Standard and Premium, 10 on Comprehensive — but the reading between lessons is on you.
This is the one people forget. The stages are optional and cumulative. You can take the private certificate at $10,900 and never spend another dollar on training, and a very large number of happy pilots do exactly that.
There is a decision worth making in your first month, and getting it wrong is the most expensive mistake available to you. Are you buying a hobby or a career?
If it is a hobby, buy the route to the privileges you want and stop there. The Standard Private Pilot Program at $10,900 is that route. Add the instrument rating at $11,700 later if the weather starts limiting you, and ignore everything past that.
If it is a career, the arithmetic inverts. Every hour you fly counts toward the 1,500 an airline needs, so continuity matters more than comfort, and stopping and restarting is what kills career timelines. The zero-to-airline program is $89,000 and takes eighteen months to two years, with a year or more of instructing in the middle of it.
What you should not do is buy career-grade training for hobby-grade goals. We talk people out of that most weeks.

This is the part the brochures skip, so here it is plainly. Between paying the $89,000 and earning an airline salary there is a stretch of two to four years in which you will not be well paid, and for part of it you will not be paid at all.
The sequence runs like this. You train for eighteen months to two years. You come out with a commercial certificate and a flight instructor certificate and somewhere around 250 hours. An unrestricted ATP needs 1,500 under 14 CFR 61.159. You close that gap by instructing, which pays, but which pays like instructing.
Weather, aircraft availability and student cancellations all decide how fast you build hours, so the honest answer to how long that phase takes is that it varies and nobody can promise you a date. What we can tell you is that instructing in Los Angeles builds hours faster than instructing somewhere it rains, which is the whole point of the flyable days study and its 355 days at Van Nuys.
Nobody in aviation can promise you a job, including us, and you should distrust anyone who does. What is true is that the certificates are portable, the hours are yours, and the industry is hiring at a rate it was not ten years ago. Our read on the hiring outlook is deliberately measured, and what flight instructors actually earn covers the lean middle in more detail.
If that sounds discouraging, it is meant to be clarifying. People who start the career path knowing what year three looks like tend to finish it. People sold a smooth eighteen-month glide to a jet tend not to.

Five certificates, one ramp. Every airplane you will train in at any stage is owned by the school, inspected on our schedule and flown by our instructors every day.






Single-engine training on the Standard and Comprehensive 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.
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 on Comprehensive — and the Redbird earns its keep hardest on the instrument rating.
Every instructor here holds a commercial or ATP certificate plus a CFI and a current medical, and is legally pilot in command on every flight you make together. On a path that can run from a first lesson to an airline interview, that continuity is worth more than any single line on a price list.
There are 11 instructors on the team, so your progress is not hostage to one person having a free Tuesday. You are matched to an instructor when you enroll, and if the fit is wrong you can change without it costing you anything.
Most of them treat instructing as the career rather than as a waiting room for an airline class date. It shows in the debrief, which is the part of a lesson students remember and the thing our reviews mention most.

Over 100 reviews on Google, averaging five stars. Three things come up again and again.
The most repeated compliment is not the aircraft and it is not 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.
Ready to commit, or want to talk it through first — both routes sit on every card. Financing from $2,500 down with monthly plans available.
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.
Train from lesson one in the Cirrus SR22 Turbo with its full glass cockpit.
Stage one for anyone whose budget is the binding constraint. No FAA medical required under FAR 61.23.
Stage three, and the rating that turns a marine layer morning into a departure rather than a cancellation.
Flown in the Piper Seminole. The rating most commercial candidates add before they start applying.
Training to the point of flying the aircraft alone. Stop there, or carry on to the private certificate.
A structured program for young people below the legal solo age. Real instruction, real logbook entries.
Private, instrument, commercial, multi-engine and flight instructor in one program. Read the honest section above first.
Full-motion, FAA-approved, on the ground. The sensible option if you are nervous or the weather is poor.
You fly it, over Los Angeles, hands on the controls. Credited in full on enrollment within 24 hours. 90 min $299, 120 min $399.
Bring your calendar and your budget. Leave with a written plan and a realistic finish date. No obligation.
Discovery flights for two start at $299. The Cirrus SR22 Turbo flight for two is $499 and the Piper Seminole twin is $499. All are credited the same way if you enroll within 24 hours. Discovery flights near you lists every option.
Sport, private, instrument, commercial and the full zero-to-airline path, each with its published price, the financing options and a timeline built around how often you can actually fly. Nobody will pressure you.
Sixty minutes over Los Angeles with your hands on the controls, logged as real dual instruction. Enroll within 24 hours and the whole $229 comes off your program. Call (818) 290-8249, seven days, 9am to 9pm.
For a private pilot certificate in Los Angeles, $10,900 on our Standard program at Van Nuys Airport. For a sport pilot certificate it is $8,400. For the complete path to an airline job, including instrument, commercial, multi-engine and flight instructor, it is $89,000.
At LA Flight School the Standard private pilot program is $10,900, the Comprehensive is $15,900 and the zero-to-airline program is $89,000. We are a Part 61 school at Van Nuys Airport, so you pay for training and nothing else — no degree bundled on top.
Learning to fly starts at $8,400 with the Sport Pilot program, which is 20 hours under FAR 61.313 and does not require an FAA medical certificate. Most people go straight to the private certificate instead: $10,900 for the Standard program and its 40 logged hours. A $229 discovery flight is a real, loggable lesson and is credited in full against any program if you enroll within 24 hours.
$89,000 for the full program with us, covering the private, instrument, commercial, multi-engine and flight instructor certificates. Most people then spend a year or more instructing to reach the 1,500 hours 14 CFR 61.159 requires, and are paid to do it rather than paying for it. Those middle years are financially lean and worth planning for.
Yes, and most people do. The stages are separate programs with separate prices: sport $8,400, private $10,900, instrument $11,700, multi-engine add-on $5,100. You can finish one, fly for a year, and decide later whether to buy the next. Starting with a $229 discovery flight rather than $10,900 is exactly the point.
$10,900 for the Standard program at Van Nuys, which includes 38 hours of single-engine aircraft time, 30 hours of dual instruction, 2 hours in the Redbird simulator, 3 hours of ground school and all materials, building to 40 hours logged. Comprehensive is $15,900 and Premium is $22,500.
Compared with most hobbies, yes. Compared with a professional qualification that leads to a six-figure salary, the $89,000 career path is cheaper than law school. The honest framing is that a private pilot certificate at $10,900 costs about what a used car costs, and takes six to nine months.
Six to nine months for a private certificate flying two or three times a week, and eighteen months to two years for the full airline training path, followed by the hour-building phase. Students who cannot fly that often usually take the Comprehensive program at $15,900, which builds in 60 hours of logged flight time.
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.
Three third-party requirements sit outside every flight school price: the FAA medical certificate from an aviation medical examiner, the FAA knowledge test taken at an approved testing center, and the Designated Pilot Examiner who conducts your checkride and is paid directly on the day. Books and training materials are included in all our programs.
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