Flight training at Simon Aviation Services

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

   What is the hourly rate on your cheapest trainer, and which airplane is that?Missing from their site

   This is the number that is missing from the site, and it is the largest line on your bill.

4. 4

   Is that rate wet or dry, meaning does it include fuel?Missing from their site

   A dry rate and a wet rate are not comparable. Dry rates can run $40 to $60 an hour lower for the same airplane.

5. 5

   Do you instruct in your own aeroplanes, and what do they and the instructor cost?Missing from their site

   This is an FBO that also lists training, and an FBO's instruction is often given in the customer's aircraft, which changes the whole shape of the bill.

6. 6

   Do you train helicopters as well as aeroplanes?

   AOPA rates this operator for rotary wing alongside multi-engine and instrument, and the two are priced nothing alike.

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 Simon Aviation's rates. The middle of what 6 Louisiana 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. Simon Aviation is not in it.

What we checked

Listed WITHOUT a website: the only address AOPA carries for this business is a Facebook page. A new FBO at Houma-Terrebonne, rated by AOPA from Private through MEI plus rotary wing. Checked August 13, 2026.