Flight training at Colonial Air

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

   Which certificates and ratings do you train all the way through, and where would I have to go elsewhere?Missing from their site

   This is the difference between one school for your whole path and switching partway.

4. 4

   What does an instructor cost per hour, and which certificates do you train for?Missing from their site

   The site prices all three aircraft wet and says it offers pilot training, but names no instruction rate and no certificate anywhere across its eleven pages.

5. 5

   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.

6. 6

   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.

7. 7

   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 Colonial Air's rates. The middle of what 9 Massachusetts 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. Colonial Air is not in it.

What we checked

An FBO at New Bedford Regional that rents three tails wet and offers pilot training, with no instruction rate and no named certificates anywhere on its site. Checked August 8, 2026.