Flight training at Border 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

   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

   What do you charge per hour for the airplane and for instruction?Missing from their site

   Nothing is published anywhere, so the whole budget starts with this call.

6. 6

   Is there an instructor based at Swanton, and how far ahead do I book?Missing from their site

   At a field this size the instructor is often part time, and that decides whether training here is realistic.

7. 7

   Which ratings can I finish here without moving to Burlington?

   Franklin County is about 40 miles from Burlington, so knowing where the path ends here saves a surprise later.

8. 8

   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.

9. 9

   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.

10. 10

    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 Border Air's rates. The middle of what 3 Vermont 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. Border Air is not in it.

What we checked

No website. Everything here comes from AOPA's Flight School Finder, which records a Part 61 operation at Franklin County State Airport in Swanton, up near the Canadian border. Listed because northern Vermont has no other option short of Burlington, and a real school with a phone number beats an empty result.