Flight training at CalAir Aviation

Both airplanes are the same type at the same price, and the site does not say whether the rate includes fuel. A Cirrus simulator (AATD) is published separately at $165/hr and is not an airplane. CalAir also manages and maintains aircraft for owners, so not everything on the site is training.

1. 1

   What do you charge per hour for flight instruction, and is ground instruction billed at the same rate?Missing from their site

   This is the number that is missing from the site. Ground is often billed separately and at a different rate.

2. 2

   Does the instructor rate change for the Instrument, Commercial, or CFI, or is it flat across everything?Missing from their site

   Plenty of schools charge more for advanced instruction. A flat rate quoted for the Private can climb later.

3. 3

   Do the published aircraft rates include fuel, or is fuel billed separately?

   The site does not say, and it is the difference between two rates that look identical and are not.

4. 4

   What does instruction cost, and does it require a Cirrus standardised instructor at a higher rate?Missing from their site

   An all-Cirrus fleet usually does, and that raises the instruction rate rather than the airplane rate.

5. 5

   Does the $380 include fuel?

   The site does not say, and on a $380/hr airplane the difference between wet and dry is large enough to change which school you choose.

6. 6

   Can I do my Private here from zero hours, or is the fleet aimed at transition and owner training?

   Two identical Cirrus and an aircraft management business alongside is a different operation from a primary training school.

7. 7

   Do you offer block rates or prepay discounts, and what is the refund policy if I stop partway?

   Block discounts are common and rarely published. The refund terms matter more than the discount.

8. 8

   What do you charge for the written test, the checkride, and the examiner's fee?

   The DPE fee alone runs $800 to $1,200 in most of the country and is almost never in a quoted hourly rate.

9. 9

   How many trainers and how many full-time instructors do you have right now?

   Availability decides your pace, and pace decides your total more than the hourly rate does.

What to compare their answer against

Not CalAir's rates. The middle of what 60 California schools charge, to hold your phone quote against.

From the schools here that publish full rate cards, the same sample behind the Flight Training Cost Report. CalAir is not in it.

What we checked

Two identical Cirrus SR20s at the same published rate, on a site that also sells aircraft management and maintenance. The fuel basis is never stated, which matters more here than usual given the hourly figure. No instruction rate is published. Checked August 6, 2026.