What flight training costs at Colorado 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.
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.
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 Colorado
Cortez Flying Service
Part 61Lowest in COCortez, CO·cortezflyingservice.com
Published rates
$130/hr aircraft (wet)+$50/hr instructor
Verified July 2, 2026·Source
Cortez publishes a solo airplane rate ($130/hr) and a dual rate ($180/hr); it does not list a standalone instructor rate, so the $50/hr instruction here is the difference between the two (a dual hour works out to Cortez's published $180).
PilotBound estimate · Private
$12.6K–$16.7K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
Add to my planSee the full breakdown →PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Cortez Flying Service. School names are used only to identify the school.
Colorado Springs, CO·coloradospringsflightschool.com
PilotBound estimate · Private
$14.8K–$19.6K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
Add to my planSee the full breakdown →PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by The Flight School at Colorado Springs. School names are used only to identify the school.
Colorado Flight Center
Part 61Grand Junction, CO·coloradoflightcenter.com
Published rates
$150/hr aircraft (dry, fuel billed separately)+$70/hr instructor
Verified July 2, 2026·Source
This estimate uses Colorado Flight Center's published dry rates plus their estimated fuel. Their insurance requires a CFC instructor on every rental flight.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$14.8K–$19.6K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
Add to my planSee the full breakdown →PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Colorado Flight Center. School names are used only to identify the school.
Vector Air
Part 61Erie, CO·vectorair.net
PilotBound estimate · Private
$14.9K–$19.7K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
Add to my planSee the full breakdown →PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Vector Air. School names are used only to identify the school.
Leading Edge Flight Training
Part 61Loveland, CO·leflighttraining.com
Published rates
$170/hr aircraft (wet)+$70/hr instructor
Verified July 2, 2026·Source
Leading Edge also sells a flat-rate Private Pilot package (about $14,580 before tax) covering 52 aircraft hours, 40 hours of flight instruction, and 42 hours of ground, built on their standard $170/hr aircraft and $70/hr instruction rates. Hours beyond the package bill at those same rates.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$16.1K–$21.3K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
Add to my planSee the full breakdown →PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Leading Edge Flight Training. School names are used only to identify the school.
Colorado Sport Pilot
Part 61Loveland, CO·coloradosportpilot.org
PilotBound estimate · Private
$16.1K–$21.4K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
Add to my planSee the full breakdown →PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Colorado Sport Pilot. School names are used only to identify the school.
Springs Aviation
Part 61Colorado Springs, CO·springsaviation.com
PilotBound estimate · Private
$16.4K–$21.7K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
Add to my planSee the full breakdown →PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Springs Aviation. School names are used only to identify the school.
Arapahoe Flight Club
Part 141Colorado Springs, CO·arapahoefc.com
PilotBound estimate · Private
$16.6K–$22K
~78 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
Add to my planSee the full breakdown →PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Arapahoe Flight Club. School names are used only to identify the school.
Peak Aviation
Part 61Colorado Springs, CO·cospilot.com
PilotBound estimate · Private
$19K–$25.2K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
Add to my planSee the full breakdown →PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Peak Aviation. School names are used only to identify the school.
Centennial Aviation Academy
Part 61Englewood, CO·flywithcaa.com
PilotBound estimate · Private
$21.1K–$28K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
Add to my planSee the full breakdown →PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Centennial Aviation Academy. School names are used only to identify the school.
Aspen Flight Academy
Part 61Aspen, CO·aspenflightacademy.org
Published rates
$385/hr aircraft (wet)+$75/hr instructor
Verified July 2, 2026·Source
Aspen Flight Academy is a nonprofit. The $385/hr is the standard adult rate; scholarship students and essential workers pay $330/hr.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$29.6K–$39.2K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
Add to my planSee the full breakdown →PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Aspen Flight Academy. School names are used only to identify the school.
Independence Aviation
Part 61Largest fleet2 locationsCentennial & Broomfield, CO·flywithia.com
Published rates
$420/hr aircraft (wet)+$105/hr instructor
Verified July 2, 2026·Source
This estimate uses Independence's 2026 all-Cirrus member wet rates (base plus consumables). SR22T rates include TKS and oxygen. Taxes and a 3% card fee are added on top and are not modeled; the SF50 Vision Jet is not included.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$33.3K–$44.1K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
Add to my planSee the full breakdown →PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Independence Aviation. School names are used only to identify the school.
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. The result is a range, not a promise.
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.