Before you start flight training to become a private pilot and beyond, there is so much information to wade through.

If you’re like me, at this early stage you have questions about what kind of training you need, how much it will cost, and where to find the right flight school.

Asking airline pilots

I remember what it was like when I was a flight attendant researching how to become a pilot back in 2019. I knew so little about how this side of the aviation industry worked, and it was hard to find clear answers to my many questions.

Asking the pilots at the major airline I worked for didn’t help much because they were so experienced at that point, it had been a very long time since they had gone through initial training. Most of the pilots I talked to were former military anyway, so their advice to me was always the same: Go fly in the military.

While that can be a great route for many people, I knew that no part of me at 27 years old wanted to join any branch of the military. I wanted to go to civilian flight school and become an airline pilot, but other than those details, the path to get there was unclear.

Hindsight is 20/20

Now that I’m on the other side of training and working as a flight instructor, I can see much more clearly the things that would have been helpful to know early on.

These are things I really only learned with time and experience, but maybe could have saved me some trouble if someone had told me before I started.

If you’re at the beginning of your training journey or just starting to explore the possibility of becoming a pilot, this is for you. Flight training is an incredibly transformative time that I deeply hope you get to experience. Go in with an open mind, a clear plan, and a spirit of flexibility. You truly do get out what you put in.

1. There is no perfect flight school

Every school will show you their best side if you take a tour or browse their website because that’s showbiz, baby. Flight schools are businesses. The big ones have marketing and sales teams. That doesn’t mean they are bad or lying to you, but their job is to make the school look good to get you to attend, simple as that.

To get the full picture of what it’s really like to attend any school, your best bet is to talk to current and past students. Ask them what their experience was like and what they would change or improve, if anything. Decide what you can live with and what you can’t live without when it comes to your needs and goals (location, timeline, cost, etc.)

2. Flight school will likely cost more or take longer than you think

Things will not always go how you expect. Unless you’re one of a very lucky few, your flight training experience might take longer or cost more (or both) than you originally thought.

Whatever the bare minimum initial budget you come up with is, add 10-20% as a cushion. You might need to repeat some lessons, or you might hit training delays that require you to fly more to keep up your proficiency. Stay flexible and hold timelines and fixed costs loosely.

3. You are a customer, not just a student

Sometimes things or people fall through the cracks in any large system; flight schools are no different. There may come a time that something in your training gets messed up or forgotten. Maybe you’re left off the schedule longer than normal, maybe you get accidentally charged for a flight that didn’t actually happen. Keep good records and ask for what you need. You’re a high-value client; get your money’s worth.

More resources

If you’re new to flight school or thinking about starting it soon, this is for you! I put together a free checklist for new student pilots to use as a guide for the first steps of flight training.

I also go into a little more depth with all of this on YouTube, where you can watch or listen to this topic podcast-style.