PilotBound

Published rates, sourced · Updated September 16, 2026

What flight training costs at Arizona flight schools

Every listing shows the school's own published rates with the source and date, next to an honest PilotBound estimate for your Private pilot certificate. Add any school to your plan to map your whole route on their real rates.

Across the 12 Arizona schools here with published rates, trainer rentals run $109 to $185 per hour and instruction $35 to $100, and PilotBound's private pilot estimate lands between $14,125 and $20,045, with a median of $17,185.

Search, filter by city, and sort by cost. Each card marks where it falls among the state's schools on cost. Estimates are ours, not quotes, and we are not affiliated with these schools. See a wrong number? Every card has a correct-this-listing link.

Estimate cost toflying
Showing 1–12 of 41 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 Arizona

lowest $12.1Khighest $22.9K

  • McDermott's Let's Fly

    Part not stated
    Lowest in AZ

    Somerton, AZ·letsflyllc.com

    Published rates

    $135/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$35/hr instructor

    Checked September 10, 2026·Source

    THE PAGE CARRYING THESE RATES IS STAMPED COPYRIGHT 2017, so confirm every figure before budgeting: it is published and current on the site, but the site itself has not been dated since. Instruction is priced by who you are rather than by aircraft: $35/hr for student private pilots and $45/hr for everyone else. Ten-hour blocks lower each aircraft by $5 to $10. The school also publishes whole-course prices (Private $7,000, Instrument $9,500, Commercial $3,500, Flight Instructor $3,500, and a ten-hour tailwheel endorsement at $2,000), which are NOT used here because this estimate is built from hourly rates. A Redbird TD2 simulator is $75/hr.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $14,125

    range $12.1K – $16.1K

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

    Add to my planLet's Fly cost breakdown →

  • Scottsdale Executive Flight Training

    Part 61

    Scottsdale, AZ·scottsdaleflighttraining.com

    Published rates

    $109/hr aircraft (dry, fuel billed separately)+$75/hr instructor

    Checked August 16, 2026·Source

    Rates are dry (fuel billed separately) and based on Hobbs time. Scottsdale Airport adds a user fee (1% on rentals, 2.5% on instruction), and renters must carry non-owned hull insurance.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $14,573

    range $12.5K – $16.6K

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

    Add to my planScottsdale Executive cost breakdown →

  • Fly Eagle Sport

    Part not stated

    Glendale, AZ·flyeaglesport.com

    Published rates

    $140/hr aircraft (wet)+$50/hr instructor

    Checked August 20, 2026·Source

    Rates are per Hobbs hour and published wet, with FES fuel included and no surcharge on flights returning to Glendale. Fuel bought away from base is reimbursed at $2.50 per gallon, not at cost. Instruction is tiered: $50/hr standard, $60/hr senior for the Instrument and Commercial stages, and $70/hr for the AirCam and Sonex special programs. Aircraft time is billed on the Hobbs meter but instructor time covers the whole lesson including briefing and debrief, so the instruction hours run longer than the flight hours. A Redbird LD simulator is $70/hr.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $15,355

    range $13.2K – $17.5K

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

    Add to my planFly Eagle Sport cost breakdown →

  • Alpha Air

    Part 61

    Tucson, AZ·alphaaironline.com

    Published rates

    $135/hr aircraft (wet)+$65/hr instructor

    Checked September 16, 2026·Source

    Rates are wet (fuel and oil included; fuel bought away from base is refunded). Alpha Air is a non-profit flying club, so rates may require membership.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $15,865

    range $13.6K – $18.1K

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

    Add to my planAlpha Air cost breakdown →

  • Fly Glendale

    Part not stated

    Glendale, AZ·flyglendale.com

    Published rates

    $145/hr aircraft (wet)+$65/hr instructor

    Checked September 16, 2026·Source

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $16,585

    range $14.3K – $18.9K

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

    Add to my planFly Glendale cost breakdown →

  • Chandler Air Service

    Part 61 & 141

    Chandler, AZ·aerobatics.com

    Published rates

    $147/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$72/hr instructor

    Checked August 12, 2026·Source

    The site does not state whether rates include fuel. A $200 to $1,000 advance deposit applies, and paying in advance earns a 5% to 10% discount.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $17,135

    range $14.7K – $19.5K

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

    Add to my planChandler Air cost breakdown →

  • Angel Aviation

    Part 61

    Glendale, AZ·angelaviation.com

    Published rates

    $150/hr aircraft (wet)+$70/hr instructor

    Checked September 16, 2026·Source

    Rates are wet (fuel included, no surcharges). Away from base, fuel is reimbursed at the base airport's self-serve pump price, taxes are not included, and every rental requires a checkout flight charged at the regular hourly rate. A 10-hour block lowers the rates to Cessna 172 $145, glass $160, TAA $175, and the Seneca $335. Cross-country time building is priced separately (10-hour minimum): Cessna 152 $120, Cessna 172 $130, glass $145, TAA $160, and the Seneca $345 including the instructor.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $17,235

    range $14.8K – $19.6K

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

    Add to my planAngel Aviation cost breakdown →

  • Alpha Kilo Aviation

    Part 61

    Maricopa, AZ·alphakiloaviation.com

    Published rates

    $159/hr aircraft (wet)+$75/hr instructor

    Checked September 16, 2026·Source

    Rates are wet plus Arizona sales tax. Instruction is $60 to $75/hr depending on the instructor (chief instructor $75/hr).

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $18,173

    range $15.6K – $20.7K

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

    Add to my planAlpha Kilo cost breakdown →

  • Leighnor Aircraft

    Part 61
    Largest fleet

    Prescott, AZ·leighnoraircraft.com

    Published rates

    $159/hr aircraft (dry, fuel billed separately)+$75/hr instructor

    Checked September 9, 2026·Source

    Leighnor rents dry and publishes the whole decomposition per tail: a dry rate, a consumables figure covering fuel and supplies, Arizona transaction privilege tax, and a total hourly. The dry rates are shown here; the school's own all-in total is quoted per tail alongside. Consumables run $58.75/hr on every single and $155.70/hr on the twin, and they track the fuel price at Prescott, which the school updates weekly, so the totals move week to week. Instruction is $75/hr.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $18,173

    range $15.6K – $20.7K

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

    Add to my planLeighnor cost breakdown →

  • Classic Air Aviation

    Part not stated

    Mesa, AZ·classicairaviation.com

    Published rates

    $160/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$75/hr instructor

    Checked September 1, 2026·Source

    Rates come from the school's per-course pricing tables, which all price the C172M at $160/hr and instruction and ground at $75/hr; the multi-engine add-on prices the Seminole at $375/hr with the same $75 instruction. The simulator is $65/hr. Time-building is $160/hr. Flight accounts start at $1,000 and pay-as-you-go is allowed.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $18,245

    range $15.7K – $20.8K

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

    Add to my planClassic Air cost breakdown →

  • Fly Goodyear

    Part 61 & 141

    Goodyear, AZ·flygoodyear.com

    Published rates

    $165/hr aircraft (wet)+$78/hr instructor

    Checked September 5, 2026·Source

    Rates are wet. Instruction in your own aircraft is $85/hr. The Seneca twins are dual only, with no solo rental. The training pages sit behind protection that serves plain fetchers an empty body: the crawler read the $165 aircraft and the $78 instructor on September 5, 2026 and a browser shows them, so an empty read here is not evidence the rates are gone.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $18,779

    range $16.1K – $21.4K

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

    Add to my planFly Goodyear cost breakdown →

  • Arizona Flight Training Center

    Part not stated

    Glendale, AZ·arizonaflighttrainingcenter.com

    Published rates

    $185/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$75/hr instructor

    Checked September 10, 2026·Source

    AFTC publishes two figures per airplane, an Hourly Rate and a lower Account Rate, and does not explain on the aircraft page what qualifies you for the Account Rate. This estimate uses the HOURLY rate, the one a student pays without qualifying for anything, so ask about the Account Rate before budgeting: it is $5/hr lower on the two 172s and is marked not applicable on the 182 and the twin. Flight and ground instruction are the same $75/hr. Two simulators are published separately, an Elite PC-135 BATD at $60/hr and a second device at $70/hr, each with its own lower account rate. The site does not state whether aircraft rates include fuel.

    PilotBound estimate · Private

    $20,045

    range $17.2K – $22.9K

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

    Add to my planAFTC cost breakdown →

Flight school costs in Arizona, in numbers

Computed from the 12 Arizona schools that publish both an aircraft and an instructor rate, on the same method every card above uses. The 29 listings without a full rate card are left out of every figure.

$17,185
Median PilotBound Private estimate across the 12 schools with published rates
$109 to $185
Published trainer rental, per hour
$35 to $100
Published instruction, per hour
12 of 41
Schools publishing a full rate card (aircraft and instructor)

Lowest published trainer rates in Arizona

Part 141 flight schools in Arizona

Flight schools by city in Arizona

Airports with more than one Arizona flight school

Discovery flights in Arizona

6 Arizona schools publish a discovery flight price, median $180. 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 Arizona flight schools

How much does flight school cost in Arizona?
Across the 12 Arizona flight schools here that publish full rates, trainer rentals run $109 to $185 per hour and instruction $35 to $100 per hour, checked as recently as September 16, 2026. On each school's own published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate between $14,125 and $20,045, with a median of $17,185. These are PilotBound estimates built on published rates, not quotes from the schools.
What is the cheapest flight school in Arizona?
Scottsdale Executive Flight Training in Scottsdale publishes the lowest trainer rental of the 12 Arizona schools listed here, $109 per hour for its Cessna 152, a dry rate, so fuel is billed separately on top, checked August 16, 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 Arizona flight school rates?
Every rate here is the school's own published figure, linked to its source and dated; the newest check in Arizona is September 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 29 more schools in Arizona are listed without an estimate because they do not publish a full rate card. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime.