What flight training costs at Santa Monica Municipal (SMO)
3 schools train at Santa Monica Municipal Airport, Santa Monica. One publishes a full rate card, shown with its source and date next to a PilotBound estimate. The other 2 are listed with what they do publish.
Updated September 12, 2026 · All California flight 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.
Santa Monica Flyers
Part not statedSanta Monica, CA·santamonicaflyers.com
$149/hr aircraft (wet)·$110/hr instructor
Checked September 12, 2026·Source
Rates are wet. Santa Monica Flyers operates two 2024 Pipistrel Velis Electro ELECTRIC trainers and waives KSMO landing fees on the electric fleet. Cessna Skyhawk rental starts at $195/hr and Cirrus models rent wet at rates that vary by model and trip, so only the published starting figures are modeled here. Instruction is published as a RANGE of $110 to $125 per hour rather than a single rate; this estimate uses the low end, so confirm your instructor's rate.
PilotBound estimate, Private
$19,483
range $16.8K to $22.2K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planSanta Monica Flyers cost breakdown →- Below: schools without a full published rate card. They cannot be priced, so they sit at the end of a cost sort.
Proteus Air Services
Part not statedSanta Monica, CA·SMO·proteus.aero
No PilotBound estimate
Proteus Air Services does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
What to ask Proteus Air ServicesSkyward Air
Part not statedSouth Santa Monica, CA·SMO·iflyskyward.com
No PilotBound estimate
Skyward does not publish an aircraft rate and an instructor rate
What to ask Skyward
Estimates use the same method as every California school page: PilotBound's own completion-hours model times each school's published rates, plus the one-time fees most quotes leave out. They are ours, not the schools' quotes, and we are not affiliated with the schools. How these estimates work·Disclaimer & removal policy
Flight school costs at Santa Monica Municipal, in numbers
Computed from the 1 Santa Monica Municipal school that publishes both an aircraft and an instructor rate, on the same method every card above uses. The 2 listings without a full rate card are left out of every figure.
- PilotBound Private estimate at the one school with published rates
- $19,483
- Published trainer rental, per hour
- $149/hr
- Published instruction, per hour
- $110/hr
- Schools publishing a full rate card (aircraft and instructor)
- 1 of 3
Lowest published trainer rates at Santa Monica Municipal
Flight schools in California cities.
- Acampo3 schools
- Auburn3 schools, all with rates
- Bakersfield3 schools, 1 with rates
- Bermuda Dunes3 schools, 1 with rates
- Camarillo3 schools
- Cameron Park3 schools, 2 with rates
- Carlsbad3 schools, all with rates
- Chico2 schools, all with rates
- Chino5 schools, 1 with rates
- Concord5 schools, 1 with rates
- El Cajon6 schools, 1 with rates
- Hayward5 schools
- Lancaster2 schools, all with rates
- Livermore5 schools, 2 with rates
- Long Beach7 schools, 3 with rates
- Novato3 schools
- Oakland3 schools, 1 with rates
- Palo Alto3 schools, 1 with rates
- Ramona3 schools
- Riverside3 schools, 2 with rates
- Sacramento3 schools, 1 with rates
- San Carlos3 schools
- San Diego5 schools, 2 with rates
- San Jose5 schools, 1 with rates
- Santa Ana4 schools, 2 with rates
- Stockton3 schools, 2 with rates
- Torrance4 schools, 3 with rates
- Van Nuys15 schools, 6 with rates
- Watsonville4 schools, 1 with rates
All California flight schools →Flight school costs by state →
Common questions about flight schools at SMO
How much does flight school cost at Santa Monica Municipal?
Santa Monica Flyers in Santa Monica is the one Santa Monica Municipal school here with a full published rate card: $149 per hour for its Pipistrel Velis Electro and $110 per hour for instruction, checked September 12, 2026. On those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $19,483. That is a PilotBound estimate, not a quote from the school.
How current are these Santa Monica Municipal flight school rates?
Every rate here is the school's own published figure, linked to its source and dated; the newest check at Santa Monica Municipal is September 12, 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 2 more schools at Santa Monica Municipal are listed without an estimate because they do not publish a full rate card. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime.