Frequently Asked Questions

Generally speaking, you can expect to spend about $20,000 to earn a private pilot certificate. The FAA requires a minimum of 40 hours of flight time to be eligible for a private pilot certificate, which includes a minimum of 20 hours of instruction. However, most students require many additional hours of instruction to gain the proficiency and confidence to pass the practical test on the first try. According to FAA data, since 2020 the average number of total hours logged by applicants for a private pilot certificate nationwide is about 100.

If your goal is to earn your commercial pilot and flight instructor certificates, you can expect to spend a total of about $60,000 at Holladay Aviation. The total number of required flight hours per FAA regulations is 250 x $170/hour for a Cessna 172 = $42,500. Add on another 230 hours of instruction (flight and ground combined) x $75/hour = about $17,500 for a total of about $60,000.

If you weigh less than 200 pounds, you may be able to save several thousand dollars on aircraft rental by flying a lower-cost Cessna 150 or Cessna 152 for a portion of your flight training and time building experience. Keep in mind that there are limitations on how these smaller aircraft can be used for training and testing, due to their more limited equipment and useful load capabilities.

Lessons are scheduled in 2.5-hour blocks of time. Each lesson includes some ground instruction (about 1 hour), and also usually includes some flight instruction and aircraft rental (about 1 – 1.5 hours). The exact cost of each lesson will be determined by what’s on the agenda and what’s accomplished during the lesson. For example:

1.5 hours ground instruction (pre and post flight) = $112.50
1 hour flight instruction = $75
1 hour flight Cessna 150 = $120
Total bill for lesson = $307.50

The same lesson in a Cessna 172 would cost $357.50 (billed at $170/hr for the aircraft).

Years ago, before the Internet, student pilots would gather in a classroom several days a week for a “ground school” class led by an instructor. The purpose of the class was to prepare student pilots for the FAA Private Pilot Knowledge Test. Today, most student pilots prefer to prepare for this test with an online home study course such as Sporty’s Learn To Fly Course. This online course also provides much of — but not all of — the information you will need to pass your Private Pilot Practical Test (a.k.a check ride).

During the course of your training, you will also receive one-on-one classroom (ground) instruction from your flight instructor as part of each flight lesson to evaluate your general knowledge and also to learn local procedures and information that are not covered in a book or an online course (for example: performance characteristics of the make and model of aircraft you are flying, and local area airspace procedures). This local knowledge is covered on our Pre-Solo Knowledge Test. See our Private Pilot training page for more information.

Some lessons are ground only and do not involve a flight. For example: how to plan a cross-country flight; how to get a standard weather briefing; and pre-solo knowledge evaluation.

Students are billed for all ground and flight instruction services. Please see our Scheduling and Billing Policy for more information.

At Holladay Aviation, full payment for each lesson required at the conclusion of each lesson.  Financing your flight training may be possible. Click here for more information.

While an iPad or tablet isn’t required by our flight school or by the FAA, from a practical standpoint it is a functional necessity. So much of what we do both on the ground and in flight is facilitated by quick access to digital information, and the app of choice for providing this information is ForeFlight on an iPad. Click here for guidance on selecting a device to run ForeFlight.

If you already own an Android tablet and smart phone, you will want to download the Garmin Pilot app instead. Garmin Pilot also claims to work on iOS, but ForeFlight is considered the industry standard.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) offers the following guidance on their website. Generally speaking, VA benefits will not cover the cost of earning a private pilot certificate. For more information, please contact your VA administrator.