COSTS

Breaking into the aviation industry is expensive--both in time and money. Here are my real costs for each one of my licenses and ratings so that whether you are considering becoming a Private Pilot for pleasure, or in hopes to embark on a career in the industry, you can "weigh the cost" to see if it's right for you.

A couple notes:
  1. You need to have a certain level of health in order to be a pilot.  All pilots have to obtain a medical certificate which declares you fit to fly.  Check into that first.
  2.  Because it is so expensive, I would recommend reading The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.  It's wise to have a good handle on your financial beliefs and behavior before making a choice to do something that costs so much.
Total HoursTotal CostAvg Cost/HourNotes
Private Pilot58.20$11,603.38$199.37
Instrument62.00$15,423.75$248.77Reduce time by chair flying w/ Saitek Sim
Commercial123.80$22,149.67$178.91
Multi-Engine16.30$5,890.05$361.35Twin engine more expensive to fly
CFI60.30$5,568.92$92.3548 hours were ground lessons
CFII10.60$2,192.71$206.86
MEINANANADid not get MEI
TOTALS331.20$62,828.48$189.70

These costs are only reflective of my flight and one on one ground instruction and does not include the costs I incurred from ground school at Academy College.  By enrolling in their Associate's degree program, which was approved for the restricted ATP minimums, I only needed 1250 hours vs 1500 hours to be a First Officer in air carrier ops.

Finally, you'll notice I did not get my MEI.  I ended up renting a Seminole with a fellow instructor for the remaining 10 hours I needed to meet minimum multi-engine required time. This cost about $2600 out of pocket, but we were able to split the cost.  One of us always flew "under the hood" in simulated instrument flight conditions so that we were both able to log the time.  We took one flight and flew over the Grand Canyon.  It was amazing and my family got to come along as well. Check out our experience:



What did it cost you to get your licenses and ratings?

No comments: