PilotBound estimate · Santa Fe, NM · Checked August 12, 2026
What flight training at SkyLabs Flight Training costs
Website skylabsflighttraining.com
Your plan
Estimate cost to reach
Flying
Two-seat low-wing trainer. Upgraded engine and a larger propeller for climb performance in New Mexico's thin air.
PilotBound estimate · Private
Examiner dataCost of your Private at SkyLabs Flight Training
range $17.1K – $22.6K · about 6 months at 2×/week
Priced on SkyLabs's published rates: Grumman AA-1B at $179/hr + $79/hr instruction, checked August 12, 2026.
Against a minimums quote
+$7,782 on SkyLabs's own rates. Quotes usually price the 40-hour minimum; almost nobody finishes there.
Where it goes
One-time fees ($2,375)
- Knowledge (written) test$175
- Checkride / DPE fee$800
- Medical certificate$150
- Headset$700
- Ground school / test prep$300
- Books, charts & supplies$250
Examiner records (DPE dataset).
The hourly flying is priced on SkyLabs Flight Training's published rates. About $2,375 of this is one-time fees (written test, examiner/DPE checkride, medical, gear), typical national estimates, not SkyLabs Flight Training's prices, and several are set by third parties.
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. Full methodology and sources →
What SkyLabs publishes
checked August 12, 2026The instruction rate is published in the FAQ, not on the fleet page: $79/hr for ground and flight instruction, $89/hr for multi-engine OR for instruction in your own aircraft, and $99/hr with the chief flight instructor. SkyLabs sells full-time accelerated CLASSES billed against a deposit as well as part-time hourly training; the class prices are not published, so this estimate is built from the hourly figures only. The site does not state whether aircraft rates include fuel.
Not published: the examiner's checkride fee, whether rates include fuel. Listed as missing rather than guessed.
Step 2
Turn this into a plan.
Your $19,845 is the starting line. Turn it into a route to your checkride, every step in order with this cost built in.
Add to my planWhat to ask when you call
The marked one is what SkyLabs's site never answers. The rest are what turns an hourly rate into a real bill.
Do the published aircraft rates include fuel, or is fuel billed separately?Missing from their site
The site does not say, and it is the difference between two rates that look identical and are not.
What gets billed on top of the hourly rates, and roughly how much per hour does it add?
The site notes extras beyond the hourly figures. Ask for the all-in number per hour, not the base rate.
Which instructor rate applies to each rating I plan to do, and does the higher tier start on day one of that rating?
This school prices some instruction above its primary rate. Knowing when the step-up starts keeps the later ratings from surprising you.
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.
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.
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.
Estimates use SkyLabs Flight Training's published Grumman AA-1B and instructor rates (checked August 12, 2026), shown in USD for planning only. Real cost varies by student, weather, and pace. An honest range, not a quote.
PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by SkyLabs Flight Training. School names are used only to identify the school. 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. Disclaimer & removal policy.
Common questions about SkyLabs Flight Training
- How much does it cost to get a private pilot license at SkyLabs Flight Training?
- SkyLabs Flight Training publishes $179 per hour for the Grumman AA-1B and $79 per hour for instruction on it, checked August 12, 2026. Applied to those published rates, PilotBound estimates a private pilot certificate at about $19,845, in a range of $17,100 to $22,600. That covers roughly 72 hours of flying and instruction plus the one-time fees most quotes leave out, including the written test, the examiner's checkride fee, a medical, and study materials. It is a PilotBound estimate built on the school's published rates, not a quote from SkyLabs Flight Training.
- How long does it take to get a private pilot license at SkyLabs Flight Training?
- Flying twice a week, PilotBound estimates about 6 months at SkyLabs Flight Training to reach the private pilot checkride, at roughly 72 hours. Pace is the single biggest variable: flying once a week typically stretches the timeline and raises the total, because time between lessons gets spent re-learning. Weather, aircraft availability, and instructor turnover all push the same direction.
- Is SkyLabs Flight Training a Part 61 or Part 141 flight school?
- SkyLabs Flight Training trains under Part 61, the flexible path. There is no FAA-approved syllabus to follow, so lessons can be scheduled around your life and adapted to your pace. The tradeoff is a slightly higher paper minimum for the private certificate (40 hours versus 35) and, for most students, no VA benefit eligibility.
- Do SkyLabs Flight Training's aircraft rates include fuel?
- SkyLabs Flight Training publishes $179 per hour for the Grumman AA-1B, a rate that does not say whether fuel is included. Ask before you budget: if the rate turns out to be dry, fuel adds roughly $30 to $60 per hour on top. PilotBound's estimate uses the rate exactly as published. Rates checked August 12, 2026.
- What ratings can you train for at SkyLabs Flight Training?
- SkyLabs Flight Training trains Private Pilot, Instrument Rating, Commercial Pilot, Multi-Engine (AMEL), Flight Instructor, Instrument Instructor and Multi-Engine Instructor. Instruction runs $79 to $89 per hour depending on the rating and the aircraft, since advanced and type-specific instruction is priced above the standard rate. PilotBound's estimator on this page prices any of these paths on SkyLabs Flight Training's own published rates.
Other New Mexico flight schools
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- D&D Aviation · Texico
- Del Sol Aviation · Albuquerque
- Ed's Flying Service · Alamogordo
- Enchanted Diamond · Santa Fe
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- Four Corners Flight · Farmington
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