PilotBound

What flight training costs at Alaska flight schools

Across the 5 Alaska schools here with published rates, trainer rentals run $120 to $180 per hour and instruction $55 to $80, and PilotBound's private pilot estimate lands between $14,205 and $18,815, with a median of $17,525.

20 schools listed · Updated October 16, 2026

Estimate cost toflying
Showing 1–12 of 20 schools

Totals to reach your Private goal at this pace. Estimates use PilotBound's own completion-hours model, examiner-completion data where it exists and FAA minimums where it does not, applied to each school's published rates. They are PilotBound estimates, not the school's quote, and will differ from a school's own figures. How we estimate.

Private estimate range across Alaska$12.2K$21.4K

  • Kirst Aviation

    Part not stated
    Lowest in AK

    Fairbanks, AK·kirstaviation.com

    $120/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)·$55/hr instructor

    Checked October 12, 2026·Source

    The rates table gives a cash price and a credit price for everything; the credit prices are used here and cash is about 5% less ($115 for the 152, $50 for the instructor). Fuel basis is not stated. The Navion is a Part 135 airplane used for commercial endorsements and unusual-attitude training, not a primary trainer. The site's pages render with server warnings above the content but the table reads.

    PilotBound estimate, Private

    $14,205

    range $12.2K to $16.2K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planKirst cost breakdown →

  • Missionary Aviation Repair Center

    Part not stated

    Soldotna, AK·marcalaska.org

    $160/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)·$60/hr instructor

    Checked October 12, 2026·Source

    Every rate comes from MARC's 2025 flight school brochure, a PDF rather than a web page, and it does not say whether fuel is included. Instruction is $60/hr for flight AND ground, rising to $70/hr for multi-engine. An IFR simulator is $25/hr alone or $60/hr with an instructor, and is not modeled. Pre-purchasing ten hours of aircraft rental earns a $100 discount. A separate eleven-week ground school is $600 including materials and a flight bag, and runs twice a year for the Private and once for the Instrument.

    PilotBound estimate, Private

    $17,375

    range $14.9K to $19.8K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planMARC cost breakdown →

  • Blue River Aviation

    Part 61 & 141
    Largest fleet

    Palmer, AK·blueriveraviation.com

    $150/hr aircraft (wet)·$75/hr instructor

    Checked October 16, 2026·Source

    PilotBound estimate, Private

    $17,525

    range $15.1K to $20K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planBlue River cost breakdown →

  • Arctic Flyers

    Part 61

    Anchorage (Lake Hood), AK·arcticflyers.net

    $170/hr aircraft (wet)·$70/hr instructor

    Checked October 12, 2026·Source

    PilotBound estimate, Private

    $18,675

    range $16.1K to $21.3K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planArctic Flyers cost breakdown →

  • Kenai Aviation Training Academy

    Part not stated

    Kenai, AK·kenaiaviationtrainingacademy.com

    $180/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)·$60/hr instructor

    Checked October 12, 2026·Source

    Instruction is $60/hr for Private and Commercial work and $70/hr for instrument, multi-engine and advanced training. The Tri-Pacers are $180/hr, or $170/hr on block account; the Aztec is $465/hr. The page never says whether fuel is included.

    PilotBound estimate, Private

    $18,815

    range $16.2K to $21.4K

    ~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.

    Add to my planKenai Aviation cost breakdown →
  • Below: schools without a full published rate card. They cannot be priced, so they sit at the end of a cost sort.

  • Alaska Flight Academy

    Part 141

    Wasilla, AK·alaskaflightacademy.com

    $150/hr aircraft·instructor rate not published

    Checked October 4, 2026·Source·4 aircraft published

    The fleet page prices each aircraft by the hour and does not say whether fuel is included. Instruction is not priced by the hour: the Part 141 Private Pilot course is sold at a tuition of $14,200. The school also flies two helicopters, a Cabri G2 at $425/hr and an Enstrom F28-C at $600/hr.

    No PilotBound estimate

    Alaska Flight Academy does not publish an instructor rate

    What to ask Alaska Flight Academy

  • Alaska Float & Tailwheel Training

    Part not stated

    Sterling, AK·alaskafloattraining.com

    No PilotBound estimate

    Alaska Float & Tailwheel does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    What to ask Alaska Float & Tailwheel

  • Alaska Float Ratings

    Part not stated

    Moose Pass, AK·alaskafloatratings.com

    Checked September 8, 2026·Source

    Courses are sold whole and priced by the flight time they include: a float and mountain refresher at $1,995 for four hours, an eight hour course at $3,995, and a ten hour course at $4,825, each with an on-site cabin available from $169 a night. Flight time beyond the course is $435 an hour, and a fuel surcharge of up to $25 an hour is added to all flight time. The examiner's fee of $1,000 is paid to the examiner directly and sits outside every course price. Nothing on the site prices an instructor on its own. The season runs June 1 to September 15, and pilot weight is capped at 250 lbs.

    No PilotBound estimate

    Alaska Float Ratings does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    What to ask Alaska Float Ratings

  • Alaska Floats And Skis

    Part not stated

    Anchorage, AK·alaskafloats.com

    No PilotBound estimate

    Alaska Floats And Skis does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    What to ask Alaska Floats And Skis

  • Angel Aviation Alaska

    Part not stated

    Anchorage, AK·ak.angelaviation.com

    No PilotBound estimate

    Angel Aviation does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    What to ask Angel Aviation

  • Angle of Attack

    Part not stated

    Homer, AK·PAHO·angleofattack.com

    No PilotBound estimate

    Angle of Attack does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    What to ask Angle of Attack

  • Beluga Air

    Part not stated

    Homer, AK·PAHO·belugaair.com

    No PilotBound estimate

    Beluga Air does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate

    What to ask Beluga Air

Flight school costs in Alaska, in numbers

Computed from the 5 Alaska schools that publish both an aircraft and an instructor rate, on the same method every card above uses. The 15 listings without a full rate card are left out of every figure.

Median PilotBound Private estimate across the 5 schools with published rates
$17,525
Published trainer rental, per hour
$120 to $180
Published instruction, per hour
$55 to $80
Schools publishing a full rate card (aircraft and instructor)
5 of 20

Lowest published trainer rates in Alaska

Part 141 flight schools in Alaska

Flight schools by city in Alaska

Airports with more than one Alaska flight school

Discovery flights in Alaska

3 Alaska schools publish a discovery flight price, median $199. See each price with its source

How these estimates work

We apply one consistent method to every school: PilotBound's own completion-hours model, examiner-completion data where it exists (like the Private and Commercial) and FAA minimums where no credible public data exists (like the Instrument and CFI), times that school's published aircraft and instructor rates (linked on every card, with the date we verified them), plus the one-time fees most quotes leave out. Holding the hours model identical across schools means the only thing that changes card to card is the school's actual rates.

So the number is PilotBound's estimate, not the school's quote, and it will differ from a school's own cost figures, which are often based on FAA-minimum hours. The schools do not set or endorse it.

Want a number tied to your own pace and aircraft choice? Run the estimator or read the full methodology.

These estimates are ours, not the schools' quotes, and we are not affiliated with the schools. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime. Disclaimer & removal policy.

Common questions about Alaska flight schools

How much does flight school cost in Alaska?

Across the 5 Alaska flight schools here that publish full rates, trainer rentals run $120 to $180 per hour and instruction $55 to $80 per hour, checked as recently as October 16, 2026. On each school's own published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate between $14,205 and $18,815, with a median of $17,525. These are PilotBound estimates built on published rates, not quotes from the schools.

What is the cheapest flight school in Alaska?

Kirst Aviation in Fairbanks publishes the lowest trainer rental of the 5 Alaska schools listed here, $120 per hour for its Cessna 152, Garmin 430W, a rate that does not say whether fuel is included, checked October 12, 2026. The lowest hourly rate is not automatically the lowest total: instructor rates, fuel basis, and the hours you actually fly decide that, which is what the per-school estimates on this page hold constant.

How current are these Alaska flight school rates?

Every rate here is the school's own published figure, linked to its source and dated; the newest check in Alaska is October 16, 2026, and each card and school page shows the exact date its rates were read. The directory is re-checked on a monthly cycle, and 15 more schools in Alaska are listed without an estimate because they do not publish a full rate card. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime.