Do your due diligence researching which pilot training is the best match for you. Decide what your goals as a pilot are and let us help you determine how to achieve them, design a realistic schedule, and plan your training to maximize your progress.
We are committed to your success and will ask you to commit to it as well. Organizing your life and time to allow for full dedication is another key to success. Whether it is one day a week or five days a week, you should fully commit to your studies and flight training.
Put your best effort in, be persistent and you will achieve. We cannot make you into a great pilot, only you can do so but we are here to teach you everything we know, guide you, and assist you as much as we can. The achievement is all yours!
At Pristine Aviation, we believe that you should have all the information and all the direct costs of receiving your pilot training, certifications and ratings upfront. This is why we not only present to you the cost of training but also the additional costs of checkrides, applicable taxes, additional flight time, and time-building.
When comparing prices, there are many factors to be considered:
These and many other questions should be asked as you compare pricing, availability, quality, and speed of your training. What may look like a good deal at first may turn out not to be so as you progress through your training.
You can see our pricing under each pilot certification, rating, or add-on listed below. As everyone else, we present to you the base or minimum training price without applicable taxes or other additional costs. However, unlike everyone else, we also detail for you, in advance, what the actual prices with all the additional costs are and what you should expect. As much as we try to provide you with as accurate estimates of costs, sometimes it is not possible to list the exact total cost that may be applicable to you as an individual because we do not have all the information about your current flight hours/aeronautical experience. However, we can create a cost minimized quote when we review your hours. In cases where we cannot list the total price, we will list the price per hour so you can perform your own calculations.
The average cost of each FAA Written Exam is around $75. Each certification or rating described below lists if a written exam must be taken.
All prices are subject to change without notice. Pricing may change due to industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
Getting your Private Pilot certificate means you are officially a pilot. For some, it is the first step to more advanced aviation goals and training; for others, it is the only certificate they will ever need. A Private Pilot certificate allows you to fly by yourself or with passengers, during the day or night, and in any airspace except alfa airspace. You can add other ratings to your Private Pilot certificate such as Instrument or Multi-Engine. You do not have to be Commercial pilot nor hold Instrument rating to fly multi-engine airplanes, you would just need Multi-engine add-on to your Private certificate. You also have the option to do your private pilot training in a multi-engine airplane and receive a Private Pilot Multi-Engine Certificate. However, this option substantially increases the cost.
As part of your private pilot training, you will learn take-offs, landings, basic flight maneuvers which include ground reference maneuvers, steep turns, slow flight, stalls, recovery from unusual attitudes, forward slip to land, basic flight by instruments and emergency procedures such as engine out emergency landing, engine fire and emergency descent, and others.
As you can see, you can do a lot with private pilot certificate. However, without instrument rating, no pilot certificate will allow you to fly in low visibility and low ceiling (cloud layer) conditions on an Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) flight plan. This is why Pristine Aviation strongly recommends, for your own safety, that you add an Instrument rating to your certification.
GROUND INSTRUCTION AND EVALUATIONS:
FLIGHT INSTRUCTION AND OTHER FLIGHT TIME:
TOTAL TRAINING COST:
$11,000
ADDITIONAL COSTS:
The total minimum cost of a Private Certificate with taxes and a checkride is around
$12,040
The cost of a Private Certificate listed is based on a minimum hour requirement. If more hours are required to achieve flight proficiency, additional flight and instructor hours are billed at the listed rates. The national average of flight hours to achieve flight proficiency and to receive Private Pilot certificate is around 60-70 hours.
The total cost with an additional 25 flight hours (national average of 65 hrs) and a checkride is around
$17,980
However, any additional hours flown as part of Private training count toward your commercial requirements and thus, reduce the cost of your commercial phase of training.
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing may change due to overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
Why get instrument rating? There are multiple reasons, but the most important one is your own safety as a pilot. Being well trained and current in instrument flying gives you the knowledge and skills to have the peace of mind that you will be able to fly an aircraft safely to your destination even in very limited visibility. Unexpected or sudden low visibility conditions can lead to disorientation for the untrained pilot. Even if you do not intend to fly in low visibility conditions or on an IFR flight plan, an instrument rating gives you the option, freedom and confidence to do so, if needed. It also allows you to fly in alfa airspace. In addition, an instrument rating is a basic requirement for corporate, airline, and most commercial pilot jobs.
During your instrument phase, you will learn how to fly the airplane solely by referencing the instruments without any outside visual reference. Your outside view will be fully obstructed shortly after takeoff and you will not regain outside visual until only few hundred feet above ground level (AGL) from the destination runway/airport. You will perform all functions as a pilot under a view-limiting device. Through instrument training pilots become much more precise in flying the airplane and in managing the airplanes power settings and energy. Instrument flying is about very specific and precise planning, flying, systems management and monitoring, communications, and anticipation.
To apply for instrument rating, you must either hold private pilot certificate or be a student pilot working toward your private pilot certificate. You are allowed to work on your private pilot certificate and instrument rating simultaneously. This means that by default, you must fulfill the same minimum qualifications as those for private pilot certificate.
GROUND INSTRUCTION AND EVALUATIONS:
FLIGHT INSTRUCTION AND OTHER FLIGHT TIME:
TOTAL GROUND AND FLIGHT TRAINING COST:
$13,360
ADDITIONAL COSTS:
The total cost of an Instrument Rating with a checkride is around
$14,315
The cost of an Instrument Rating listed is based on a minimum hour requirement. If required to achieve flight proficiency, additional flight and instructor hours are billed at the listed rates. Although the national average is around 56 hours, we find that 50 hours of instrument flight training is sufficient thanks to faster instrument learning process with G1000 system. If the pilot has some or all of the required 50 hours of cross-country PIC time, customized cost of instrument training can be projected based on the hours already flown.
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing may change due to overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
Technically Advanced Aircraft (TAA) training is training in managing and flying aircraft using automation. Flight time in TAA can be counted toward Commercial Certification requirements. We believe that modern pilots, especially those that plan on flying aircraft with advanced avionics and automation operated by charter, corporate, or airline operators, should be well trained and proficient in managing Flight Management System (FMS) and Automated Flight Control System (AFCS)—the autopilot.
As a corporate or airline pilot, managing automation is the overwhelming majority of your job. We strongly recommend completing TAA training either as part of your instrument phase or after, to enable you to utilize more advanced functions of the AFCS. However, even if you only seek a pilot certificate, private or commercial, without an instrument rating, you can greatly benefit from having TAA training. Pristine Aviation offers TAA training as part of the Instrument Phase or as a separate training segment.
FLIGHT INSTRUCTION TIME:
TOTAL TRAINING COST:
$2,420
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing may change due to overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
Why get a commercial single-engine pilot certificate? Commercial flight training is designed for the pilot to master his or her piloting skills through practice of advanced performance maneuvers. Most pilots get their commercial certificate for a combination of reasons, from acquiring higher level of flying skills to fulfilling career or job requirement. A commercial certification is necessary if you would like to be paid for your services as a pilot or qualify for CFI or ATP certificate.
As a commercial pilot trainee, you will learn how to precisely manage and control the energy and movement of the airplane by performing the maneuvers, take-offs, and landings you learned in private phase to ‘tighter’ standards and by learning and perfecting new maneuvers such as chandelles, lazy eights, eights on pylons, steep spirals, and power-off-180s. At the end of your commercial training, flying an airplane will feel so much more natural and ‘smoother’.
Once you achieve your commercial pilot certification in a single-engine airplane, you can continue your training either by moving onto commercial multi-engine add-on or advancing to CFI training to become an instructor. If you hold multi-engine private pilot certificate but not single-engine certification, you can earn your commercial certification in a multi-engine airplane. Note that this option is much more costly due to the 250 flight hour requirement for commercial certification.
The pricing of a Commercial Pilot Certificate training and necessary flight time is more complex and involved. It is based on the pilots previous aeronautical experience and the hour minimums required. Several of the aeronautical requirements for commercial certificate can be fulfilled by the pilot applicant without an instructor. The total number of hours needed to apply for commercial certificate is 250 hours. Up to 50 of these hours can be obtained in a full flight simulator or flight training device representing the same class of airplane under the instruction of an authorized instructor. Although simulator may seem to be the cheeper option at first, after adding up instructor fee and a simulator fee, the cost per one hour of simulator instruction is the same or higher than building flight hours in an airplane with another commercial trainee in a crew like setting. (See note at the end of commercial pricing)
The prices listed below are an example and are based on the trainee completing his/her Private pilot certificate, Instrument rating, and TAA training with Pristine Aviation where he/she acquired a minimum of about 105 total flight hours, and about 75 hours of PIC time. The more hours the trainee acquired during Private or Instrument phase, the closer he/she is to fulfilling the required minimum. The prices below are the minimum commercial pilot training recommended by us and do not include any time building costs to reach the total of 250 hours. After completing his/her commercial flight training, the trainee should have a minimum of 150 total flight hours in addition to any time building hours. Exact price quotes are done on individual basis to minimize the cost of receiving necessary training to achieve proficiency and to acquire minimum hours.
GROUND INSTRUCTION AND EVALUATIONS:
FLIGHT INSTRUCTION AND OTHER FLIGHT TIME:
TOTAL TRAINING COST:
$10,940
ADDITIONAL COSTS:
The total cost of completing Commercial Training and a checkride is around
$12,080
The cost of commercial training listed is based on recommended minimum training hours. It does not include the cost of acquiring the additional hours to fulfill the 250 hour minimum. For our trainees, Pristine Aviation offers the ability of time building with another trainee to share the cost of renting the airplane @ $180/hr (wet)*, $90/hr per person. Additional 100 hours would be priced at $9,750. Applies to Pristine Aviation commercial trainees only.
* May be subject to applicable sales tax.
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing may change due to overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
Why get CFI certification? To become an airline pilot, you will need to log 1,500 hours of flight time to qualify for an ATP certificate. One of the fastest routes to reach your 1500 hours is to become a CFI. If your goal is not to fly for airlines but you would like to teach other people to become certificated pilots, you will need to become a CFI. As a certificated instructor you will be able to charge for instruction services either as a freelancing instructor, as an independent contractor or as a flight school employee. As long you renew your CFI certification every two years (renewal does not require a checkride), you can be an instructor for the length of your aviation career including a corporate or airline job. Once you successfully complete your CFI initial certification, you can continue your training with instrument, multi-engine, high-performance, and specific type rating instructor add-ons.
CFI training includes extensive ground lessons on aeronautical knowledge, fundamentals of instruction, and right seat instructing flight training. Student instructor learns how to effectively teach all he or she has learned during his or her training. The candidate will receive additional training which includes recognition and recovery from cross-control stall, secondary stall, and miss-trim stall. Every CFI must successfully complete spin recovery training.
The CFI Initial certificate ground lessons comprise of Aeronautical Knowledge review and Fundamentals of Instruction (FOI) lessons. Because FOI is a new theory to be covered in detail, the ground portion of CFI training is more extensive than the flight portion. The trainee/applicant must receive an endorsement from a 2-year instructor and successfully complete spin recovery training flight.
GROUND INSTRUCTION AND EVALUATIONS:
FLIGHT INSTRUCTION AND OTHER FLIGHT TIME:
TOTAL TRAINING COST:
$4,760
ADDITIONAL COSTS:
The total cost of a CFI Initial certification and a checkride is around
$6,785
The cost of CFI training listed is based on an average of training hours sufficient to achieve proficiency. If additional hours are required for flight or ground training, the flight and instructor hours will be billed at the listed rates.
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing may change due to overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
Why get CFII certification? As a CFII, you will be able to teach instrument and CFII students. It will make you a better and more marketable instructor. You will be able to retain your students through all the phases and provide them with continuous and complete training. Your CFII certification may also be required if you are applying to a flight school as an instructor.
GROUND INSTRUCTION AND EVALUATIONS:
FLIGHT INSTRUCTION AND OTHER FLIGHT TIME:
TOTAL TRAINING COST:
$3,680
ADDITIONAL COSTS:
The total cost of a CFI Instrument certification and a checkride is around
$4,735
The cost of CFII training listed is based on an average of training hours sufficient to achieve proficiency. If additional hours are required for flight or ground training, the flight and instructor hours will be billed at the listed rates.
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing may change due to overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
Why get commercial multi-engine pilot certification/add-on? Commercial certification can be acquired in single- or multi-engine airplane. Be mindful that the two certifications are not equal. If you hold commercial single-engine certificate but not commercial multi-engine certificate, you can only exercise the privileges of a commercial pilot in a single-engine airplane. If you want to operate commercially in a multi-engine airplane, become professional or airline pilot flying multi-engine airplanes, or become a multi-engine flight instructor (MEI), you must hold a commercial multi-engine certificate.
Disclosure: Current multi-engine training may not performed in a Diamond aircraft.
GROUND INSTRUCTION AND EVALUATIONS:
FLIGHT INSTRUCTION AND OTHER FLIGHT TIME:
TOTAL TRAINING COST:
$4,930
ADDITIONAL COSTS:
The total cost of a Commercial Multi-Engine certification and a checkride is around
$6,530
The cost of Commercial Multi-Engine training listed is based on an average of training hours sufficient to achieve proficiency. If additional hours are required for flight or ground training, the flight and instructor hours will be billed at the listed rates.
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing is dependent on overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
Why get MEI certification? Unless you are MEI certificated, you cannot instruct in multi-engine airplanes. Getting your MEI is the final step as an instructor and we encourage you to complete it. Although currently it may seem unnecessary, having MEI certification will open many doors you may not be even thinking about; you never know where aviation will take you.
As an MEI, not only you will be able to instruct in any multi-engine aircraft you are already certificated to fly but also any multi-engine airplane you receive a type rating for in the future, making you more valuable to your future employer; some employers may even require it. Having MEI on your resume makes you more desirable for flight schools because you are more versatile as an instructor. Yes, you can get your MEI later but once you prepare for and pass your commercial multi-engine checkride, you are three quarters way to MEI certification; ask yourself, why wait? The only additional cost is the cost of a DPE.
A commercial multi-engine pilot who completes his/her comm-multi training and checkride with Pristine Aviation will have around 12 hours of multi-engine time—10 hours of training and around 2 hours of checkride PIC time. The minimum required multi-engine time to apply for ATP certification is 50 hours—25 hours at entry of ATP training. The following pricing is based on acquiring the remaining 13 hours of flight time to fulfill this requirement.
The actual MEI training can be accomplished in fewer hours if, the commercial multi-engine pilot already has a sufficient number of multi-engine hours or does not need the 25 hour requirement. We recommend a minimum of 6 flight hours which will add up to minimum of 8 hours of multi-engine PIC time prior to MEI checkride.
Disclosure: Current multi-engine training may not performed in a Diamond aircraft.
GROUND INSTRUCTION AND EVALUATIONS:
FLIGHT INSTRUCTION AND OTHER FLIGHT TIME:
TOTAL TRAINING COST:
$5,505
ADDITIONAL COSTS:
The total cost of an MEI certification and a checkride is around
$6,875
The cost of Multi-Engine Instructor training listed is based on a 25 hour multi-engine requirement to begin ATP certification training. If additional hours are required for ground or flight training to achieve proficiency, the flight and instructor hours will be billed at the listed rates.
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing may change due to overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
If you have never piloted an airplane or have completed your private pilot certification and your goal is to become a charter, corporate, or an airline pilot, Pristine Aviation offers its Zero-to-Pro training program. What are the benefits of Zero-To-Pro program? They include package pricing and increased focus on procedures used by charter and airline operations. Entry into the program does not eliminate any of the qualifications required by each phase of training; all of the qualifications of each phase must be fulfilled to advance to the next phase.
WITH MEI:
TOTAL COST:
Includes all training, commercial time building*, and airplane rental for checkrides
$72,000
CHECKRIDE EXAMINER FEES:
Examiner fees may vary per examiner
$6,200
* Commercial time building rental may be subject to applicable taxes.
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing may change due to overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
WITH MEI:
TOTAL COST:
Includes all training, commercial time building*, and airplane rental for checkrides
$54,800 + cost to complete private phase
CHECKRIDE EXAMINER FEES:
Examiner fees may vary per examiner
$6,200
* Commercial time building rental may be subject to applicable taxes.
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing may change due to overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
WITH MEI:
TOTAL COST:
Includes all training, commercial time building*, and airplane rental for checkrides
$55,000
CHECKRIDE EXAMINER FEES:
Examiner fees may vary per examiner
$5,500
* Commercial time building rental may be subject to applicable taxes.
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing may change due to overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
At Pristine Aviation, we offer the additional flight training listed below. Some training modules are dependent on aircraft and instructor availability. Please contact us to enquire about details and availability. Some specialized training will not be performed in Diamond aircraft.
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing may change due to overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing may change due to overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing may change due to overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing may change due to overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing may change due to overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
All prices are subject to change without notice.
Pricing may change due to overall industry demands, aircraft availability, and fuel prices.
Pristine Aviation does not offer the specific training for ATP certification. However, because your goal may be to become an airline pilot or a charter captain, we provide some basic information about what it takes to earn one. As with all other certifications, you will need to fulfill all required qualifications listed below. You will also have to undergo company specific in-doc training, and pass the ATP/CTP course, written exam, and ATP type rating checkride.