What flight training costs at New York 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.

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.

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Showing 8 of 8 schools

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 New York

$10.3K more affordablepricier $43.1K

Delaware Aviation LLC
Part not stated
Lowest in NY
Sidney, NY·delawareaviation.net
Published rates
$110/hr aircraft (wet)+$30/hr instructor
Verified July 22, 2026·Source
Delaware Aviation publishes solo and dual rates; the instructor rate shown is the published dual minus solo difference. Ground instruction is billed at $45/hr per their site.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$10.3K–$13.7K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
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PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Delaware Aviation LLC. School names are used only to identify the school.
Airborne Elite
Part not stated
Farmingdale, NY·flyforreal.com
Published rates
$135/hr aircraft (wet)+$80/hr instructor
Verified July 30, 2026·Source
Airborne Elite bills by TACHOMETER time, not Hobbs, which runs slower and makes these rates cheaper in practice than the same number billed on Hobbs. The fleet mixes fuel bases: the Warrior, the Archer, and one Bristell are quoted wet, while the second Bristell (N437BL) is quoted DRY at $135/hr with fuel on top. Check which Bristell you are booking. An ELITE-RC1 AATD is $40/hr.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$14.3K–$19K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
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PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Airborne Elite. School names are used only to identify the school.
East Hill Flying Club
Part 141
Ithaca, NY·flyeasthill.org
Published rates
$135/hr aircraft (wet)+$75/hr instructor
Verified July 27, 2026·Source
Rates are wet. East Hill is a flying club, so membership may be required to train or rent. Instruction is $75/hr, or $85/hr with the chief/assistant-chief instructor and on advanced training.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$15.2K–$20.1K
~78 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
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PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by East Hill Flying Club. School names are used only to identify the school.
Long Island Aviators
Part not stated
Farmingdale, NY·longislandaviators.com
Published rates
$155/hr aircraft (wet)+$80/hr instructor
Verified July 22, 2026·Source
PilotBound estimate · Private
$15.6K–$20.7K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
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PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Long Island Aviators. School names are used only to identify the school.
Global Aviation Center
Part 61 & 141
Largest fleet
Farmingdale, NY·globalaviationcenter.com
Published rates
$187/hr aircraft (wet)+$89/hr instructor
Verified July 27, 2026·Source
Rates are wet (fuel included). The figures shown are the cash price; card payments run a few dollars more per hour.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$18K–$23.9K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
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PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Global Aviation Center. School names are used only to identify the school.
True Course Flight School
Part not stated
Syracuse, NY·truecourseflighttraining.com
Published rates
$205/hr aircraft (wet)+$75/hr instructor
Verified July 30, 2026·Source
True Course does not say whether its rental rate includes fuel. The $75/hr instruction rate is published specifically for private pilot training in the school's own aircraft; rates for advanced training are not broken out. The school notes there is no sales tax on flight training in New York, and states its own typical lesson runs about $400 (1.3 to 1.6 aircraft hours plus two instructor hours).
PilotBound estimate · Private
$18.4K–$24.4K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
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PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by True Course Flight School. School names are used only to identify the school.
Hewison Aviation
Part not stated
Selkirk & Ballston Spa, NY·hewisonaviation.com
Published rates
$244/hr aircraft (wet)+$115/hr instructor
Verified July 30, 2026·Source
Aircraft rates are published as wet. These are the highest hourly rates in the directory, so compare them against the two upstate New York fields Hewison flies from rather than against national averages. Instruction is $115/hr for both primary and advanced; the $120/hr tier is for instruction in a student-owned aircraft and is not used here. A Seneca 3 twin is published at $450/hr but only for multi-engine TIME BUILDING, not training, so the multi goals stay hidden. A Gleim BATD simulator is $250 annually rather than hourly.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$22.8K–$30.2K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
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PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Hewison Aviation. School names are used only to identify the school.
Vasi Aviation
Part not stated
Latham (Albany), NY·vasi.co
Published rates
$380/hr aircraft (dry, fuel billed separately)+$140/hr instructor
Verified July 30, 2026·Source
Vasi publishes a DRY rate: fuel and oil are billed on top at actual cost, and the school itself says to plan for about $80/hr on top of the $380 aircraft rate. It is a Cirrus-only operation, so this is a premium single-type fleet rather than a Cessna trainer line. Instruction is tiered by instructor qualification: $140/hr TCI and $160/hr CSIP (Cirrus Standardized Instructor Pilot); this estimate uses the TCI rate. A RealSimGear SR7x simulator is $125/hr and must be booked with a qualified instructor.
PilotBound estimate · Private
$32.5K–$43.1K
~72 hrs on their published rates, plus one-time fees. An estimate, not a quote.
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PilotBound is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Vasi Aviation. School names are used only to identify the school.

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. The result is a range, not a promise.

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.