A flight student’s training timeline depends both on the student’s own progress and on the training track the student selects. The Standard Track for our Airplane Professional Pilot program is designed to take 18 months for students with availability five days per week and 4-5 scheduled training activities per week.

Our Accelerated Track requires student availability for seven days per week and 5-6 scheduled training activities per week. Detailed information on our airplane training tracks can be found here.

Please note, that these estimates can vary depending on how often you fly, resource availability, and weather at the campus where you are based.

Our Apply page lists the available starts dates by program and campus. Our pilot program has monthly start dates except in December.

If you have questions about the program, please contact our admissions team, and one of our representatives will follow up with you to answer your questions.

The biggest variable factor in training cost is the student’s own availability, aptitude, and pace of learning. Flying more frequently improves retention and accelerates skill development. Some students are able to understand and retain the material more quickly than others. These factors can all affect the total cost of the program. We estimate our program costs based on averages to complete our Professional Pilot Program.

The Airplane Professional Pilot Program includes the private pilot, instrument, commercial, and flight instructor courses. We also recommend students get the two additional instructor ratings to improve their knowledge and experience and enable them to build additional flight hours more quickly. Our current program pricing based on averages for our students, can be found here.

These estimates are based on average program pricing for flight instruction, ground instruction, aircraft rentals, simulator rentals, and written tests. The only item not included in this estimate is the fee you pay to the Designated Pilot Examiner when you take your check ride because those fees are paid directly to the DPE. Please note that prices are subject to change.

The simplest answer is that the M-1 visa allows you to participate in our flight training courses in the US, but you are not allowed to work. The F-1 visa allows students to participate in flight training and be eligible to work as a pilot after the completion of your training. There are different requirements for the M-1 and F-1 visas, and there is more information on our website regarding the specific requirements.

The first job for the majority of our students is to work as a Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) which allows you to build the hours necessary to progress in your career. We hire a large number of our graduate to work as CFIs, and as you get closer to completing your training you can visit our employment page to see available job openings. While we do hire many graduates, we cannot guarantee employment. We also have connections with numerous other operators and can make recommendations and sometimes introductions if you choose to begin your career somewhere besides HAA.