Flight training at Oakland Flight Training

Both rates are stated wet, but the same page carries a temporary fuel surcharge that is not quantified and has been described as temporary since July 2022. Ask what it currently adds.

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 instructor rate per hour?Missing from their site

   Both aeroplanes are priced and instruction is not, and the training page gives only a $12,500 to $15,000 range for the whole Private.

4. 4

   What is the fuel surcharge right now, per hour?

   It is described as temporary and dated July 2022, with no figure attached, so the published $160 is not the whole price.

5. 5

   Which of the two airports would I actually be flying from?

   Ray and Troy are about 25 miles apart and the site does not say which aeroplane is based where.

6. 6

   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.

7. 7

   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.

8. 8

   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 Oakland Flight's rates. The middle of what 13 Michigan 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. Oakland Flight is not in it.

What we checked

Two 1971 Cessna 172s across two airports, Ray Community and Oakland/Troy, priced wet with an unquantified fuel surcharge on top. One of the few schools in this sweep that states Part 61 in words. The training page estimates the whole Private at $12,500 to $15,000 rather than publishing an instructor rate. Checked August 14, 2026.