What flight training costs at Chico flight schools
2 schools train out of Chico. All of them publish a full rate card, shown with its source and date next to a PilotBound estimate.
One field: Chico Regional Airport (CIC). Updated October 16, 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.
Northgate Aviation
Part not statedLowest in CAChico, CA·northgateaviation.com
$159/hr aircraft (wet)·$60/hr instructor
Checked October 16, 2026·Source
All rentals are wet and include fuel and full handling. Advanced instruction (CFI, CFII, Commercial, Instrument) is $75/hr against $60/hr for private instruction. A Piper PA-32 is in the fleet but its rate is published as inquire-only, so it is not modeled.
PilotBound estimate, Private
$17,303
range $14.9K to $19.7K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planNorthgate cost breakdown →Air Carriage
Part not statedLargest fleetChico, CA·aircarriageinc.com
$175/hr aircraft (wet)·$60/hr instructor
Checked October 16, 2026·Source
PilotBound estimate, Private
$18,455
range $15.9K to $21K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planAir Carriage cost breakdown →
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 in Chico, in numbers
Computed from the 2 Chico schools that publish both an aircraft and an instructor rate, on the same method every card below uses.
- Median PilotBound Private estimate across the 2 schools with published rates
- $17,879
- Published trainer rental, per hour
- $159 to $175
- Published instruction, per hour
- $60 to $75
- Schools publishing a full rate card (aircraft and instructor)
- 2 of 2
Lowest published trainer rates in Chico
Airports with Chico flight schools
Chico Regional Airport CIC
Flight schools in other 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
- 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 Chico flight schools
How much does flight school cost in Chico?
Across the 2 Chico flight schools here that publish full rates, trainer rentals run $159 to $175 per hour and instruction $60 to $75 per hour, checked as recently as October 16, 2026. On each school's own published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate between $17,303 and $18,455, with a median of $17,879. These are PilotBound estimates built on published rates, not quotes from the schools.
What is the cheapest flight school in Chico?
Northgate Aviation in Chico publishes the lowest trainer rental of the 2 Chico schools listed here, $159 per hour for its Cessna 172, a wet rate, so fuel is included in the hourly figure, checked October 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 Chico flight school rates?
Every rate here is the school's own published figure, linked to its source and dated; the newest check in Chico 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. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime.
Which Chico airports have flight schools?
One field carries the listed schools: Chico Regional Airport (CIC) with 2. A school that does not state its field on the pages we read is counted in Chico without one.