The flight training research desk
Every number we publish is computed from data we gather by hand, one school at a time, and cited so you can check it. Ongoing datasets on what flight training costs, what the aircraft are, and what the numbers actually say.
Written by Samip Shah, CFI, CFII, AGI
Updated October 31, 2026
Five ongoing datasets.
Each is maintained by hand and recomputed from the underlying data, so the published number never drifts from the source. Free to cite with a link.
The flight training cost report
Median flight-school, academy, and aviation-degree costs, computed from each school's own published rates. The figure a journalist or a student can quote and check.
568 rate-publishing schools · 105 academies · 51 degree programs
The fleet age report
How old the aircraft on American rate cards actually are, matched tail by tail against the FAA registry. Why the fleet stopped getting newer, and what a build year is worth per hour.
1,751 aircraft · FAA registry · 70% pre-1985
Cessna 172 rental cost
What the most common training aircraft rents for, from each school's published rate card. By variant, because the 172S and the 172N are different prices, by state, and every school that rents one.
703 aircraft · 275 schools · FAA registry
Flight training, by the numbers
The numbers most schools round off: how many hours a certificate really takes, how long it runs, how many students finish, and what flying costs. Each one cited to a public source.
Sourced: FAA · AOPA · examiner data
What each certificate costs
A plain breakdown of every rating's real cost, line by line, from the aircraft and instructor down to the checkride, medical, and the fees most quotes leave out.
Private · Instrument · Commercial · CFI · ATP
How we work.
The rule is the same across every dataset: a figure counts only if the source publishes it. School rates come from the school's own site; statistics come from the FAA, AOPA, and named examiner data; college costs come from official .edu pages. Aggregators and marketing estimates are used to find a source, never to be one, and where nobody publishes a number, we say so instead of guessing.
Nothing here is a one-time snapshot. Every page recomputes from the data underneath it, so adding a school or a source updates the published figures on their own. Every number is free to reuse with a link back, and the underlying sources are listed on each page so you can check the work yourself.
The data is the starting point. Your number is next.
The research shows what training costs across the market. The estimator applies those rates to your goal and your pace, and the plan turns it into a step-by-step path to the checkride.