Published rates, sourced · Updated August 12, 2026
What flight training costs at Illinois 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 13 Illinois schools here with published rates, trainer rentals run $130 to $430 per hour and instruction $50 to $125, and PilotBound's private pilot estimate lands between $15,505 and $40,585, with a median of $17,593.
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 Illinois
Citywings Flight School
Part not statedLowest in ILSchaumburg, IL·citywings.net
Published rates
$130/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$65/hr instructor
Checked August 9, 2026·Source
Citywings sells lessons as credits, and the hourly rates here apply only on its Basic 10 Pack or Pack of 20; buying credits individually costs $140 per credit. Instructor overage is billed in six-minute intervals. The site prices a basic airplane and a deluxe airplane without saying which of its two light-sport types, a REMOS GX and a Flight Design CTLS, is which, and a premium rate is listed as coming soon. It does not say whether fuel is included.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$15,505
range $13.3K – $17.7K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planCitywings cost breakdown →Sauk Valley Aviation
Part not statedRock Falls, IL·saukvalleyaviation.com
Published rates
$150/hr aircraft (wet)+$50/hr instructor
Checked August 9, 2026·Source
Sauk Valley publishes one rental rate, wet, without naming the airplane it belongs to, and describes it only as VFR/IFR capable and fully insured. Instruction is $50/hr. The site never lists which certificates it trains, so only the Private is recorded here. A separate maintenance shop rate of $85/hr is not a training cost.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$16,075
range $13.8K – $18.3K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planSauk Valley cost breakdown →Chicago Executive Flight School
Part not statedWheeling, IL·chicagoexecutiveflightschool.com
Published rates
$130/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$75/hr instructor
Checked August 9, 2026·Source
The published rates are before a fuel surcharge that Chicago Executive states as $10/hr on the Cessna 150 and $20/hr on the Cessna 172, so budget those on top. Prepaid block plans of $2,500 and $5,000 lower the rates further ($118.50 and $107.00 on the 150, $178.00 and $161.00 on the 172); the retail rate is modeled. Instruction is $75/hr with a standard instructor and $150/hr with a senior instructor. A Frasca simulator is $90/hr and is not modeled. The fleet page also lists a Beechcraft Sundowner that the pricing page does not price.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$16,085
range $13.8K – $18.3K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planChicago Executive cost breakdown →Jacksonville Municipal Airport Flight Training
Part not statedJacksonville, IL·flyijx.com
Published rates
$145/hr aircraft (wet)+$65/hr instructor
Checked August 9, 2026·Source
The flight school is the municipal airport's own, so its rates sit on the airport website beside the fuel prices. Both airplanes are published as wet rates, marked subject to change. Instruction is $65/hr, rising to $70/hr for instrument dual, with ground instruction at $50/hr and instrument ground at $55/hr. Renters need a checkout and their own renter's insurance.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$16,585
range $14.3K – $18.9K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planJacksonville Municipal cost breakdown →JWA Flight School
Part 61Bolingbrook, IL·flyjwa.com
Published rates
$145/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$70/hr instructor
Checked August 9, 2026·Source
Instruction is $70/hr on every airplane, including the twin. A Redbird LD AATD is $65/hr with the same $70/hr instruction and is not modeled. JWA lists a Beech Duchess at $385/hr but does not advertise a multi-engine course, so no multi estimate is shown. The site does not say whether fuel is included.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$16,875
range $14.5K – $19.2K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planJWA cost breakdown →Sport Pilot Chicago
Part not statedSheridan, IL·sportpilotchicago.com
Published rates
$165/hr aircraft (wet)+$50/hr instructor
Checked August 9, 2026·Source
The rate is wet, in the school's own words, and drops to $155/hr if ten hours are prepaid for $1,550. The entire fleet is two Evektor SportStar light-sport airplanes: Sport Pilot Chicago says its instructors can also take students through the Private, Instrument, Multi-Engine and Commercial, but it publishes no other airplane, so confirm what you would actually fly for those. The site footer is dated 2017.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$17,155
range $14.8K – $19.6K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planSport Pilot Chicago cost breakdown →Aeronautics Academy
Part not statedChicago, IL·aeronauticsacademy.com
Published rates
$159/hr aircraft (fuel basis not stated)+$65/hr instructor
Checked August 9, 2026·Source
Aeronautics Academy publishes no rate card. Both figures come from its per-course cost breakdowns, which bill one flat "Aircraft" line at $159/hr regardless of type and instruction, pre/post-flight briefing and ground school all at $65/hr. The site names Piper and Cessna airplanes plus Robinson helicopters without saying which airplane the $159 buys, and never says whether fuel is included.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$17,593
range $15.1K – $20.1K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planAeronautics Academy cost breakdown →Boraam Aviation
Part not statedProspect Heights, IL·boraamaviation.com
Published rates
$140/hr aircraft (wet)+$90/hr instructor
Checked August 9, 2026·Source
Every airplane is published twice, at a standard rate and about $10/hr less on a 10-hour block; the standard rate is used here. Instruction is $90/hr for the Private and $100/hr for the Instrument and Commercial. A separate $120/hr applies in a student-provided airplane and a $100/hr checkout fee applies to the Saratoga, neither of which is used here. Boraam prices the Saratoga for Instrument and Commercial students only.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$17,675
range $15.2K – $20.1K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planBoraam cost breakdown →Sparta Aero Services
Part not statedSparta, IL·ksarairport.com
Published rates
$175/hr aircraft (wet)+$60/hr instructor
Checked August 9, 2026·Source
Sparta Aero's rate sheet is stamped "Prices effective May 01, 2023", so confirm before budgeting. Both airplanes are published wet at the same rate. Instruction is $60/hr for the Private, Recreational and Sport and for flight reviews, and $70/hr for the Instrument, Commercial, tailwheel and basic aerobatics. The rates are published on the airport's own site rather than a school site.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$18,455
range $15.9K – $21K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planSparta Aero cost breakdown →Holiday Airways
Part not statedLargest fleetSchaumburg, IL·flyholidayairways.com
Published rates
$175/hr aircraft (wet)+$65/hr instructor
Checked August 9, 2026·Source
Rates are wet and billed on Hobbs time, effective March 9, 2025. Instruction is tiered: $65/hr for the Private, $70/hr for the Instrument and Commercial, $75/hr for tailwheel, aerobatic, multi-engine or a customer-owned airplane, and $45/hr for ground. A Piper Aztec is listed as coming soon with no rate, so no multi-engine estimate is shown. A Cessna 172 discovery flight is $199.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$18,745
range $16.1K – $21.4K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planHoliday Airways cost breakdown →Region Flyers
Part 141Lansing, IL·regionflyers.com
Published rates
$175/hr aircraft (wet)+$60/hr instructor
Checked August 9, 2026·Source
Only the Lansing, Illinois fleet is priced here. Region Flyers' other base is Valparaiso, Indiana, where the same operator lists cheaper airplanes (a Cessna 150 at $129/hr, a Warrior at $159/hr) plus two Piper Apache twins and a Super Decathlon that Lansing does not have, so those are not Illinois prices. Every rate is published plus tax. Instruction is $60/hr, rising to $75/hr for multi-engine and $85/hr for tailwheel or aerobatic work, with $75/hr in a customer-owned airplane. Region Flyers' Lansing page separately quotes a $140/hr Warrior and $45/hr instruction, which contradicts the fleet page used here.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$19,745
range $17K – $22.5K
~78 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planRegion Flyers cost breakdown →WAir Aviation
Part 61Wheeling, IL·wairaviation.com
PilotBound estimate · Private
$19,905
range $17.1K – $22.7K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees.
Add to my planWAir cost breakdown →
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 Illinois flight schools
- How much does flight school cost in Illinois?
- Across the 13 Illinois flight schools here that publish full rates, trainer rentals run $130 to $430 per hour and instruction $50 to $125 per hour, checked as recently as August 12, 2026. On each school's own published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate between $15,505 and $40,585, with a median of $17,593. These are PilotBound estimates built on published rates, not quotes from the schools.
- What is the cheapest flight school in Illinois?
- Chicago Executive Flight School in Wheeling publishes the lowest trainer rental of the 13 Illinois schools listed here, $130 per hour for its Cessna 150, a rate that does not say whether fuel is included, checked August 9, 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 Illinois flight school rates?
- Every rate here is the school's own published figure, linked to its source and dated; the newest check in Illinois is August 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 5 more schools in Illinois are listed without an estimate because they do not publish a full rate card. A school can correct or remove its listing anytime.