How to Identify a Trustworthy Flight School

The flight training industry is so huge, especially here in the United States, there are so many options for flight training and it can be overwhelming to figure out which flight school to choose. I will be pointing out a few things to look for in order to identify a trustworthy flight school before you embark on your flight training journey. 

Read The Reviews

A quick google search of any flight school you’re interested in should produce results accompanied with various reviews. Popular websites like TrustPilot, Yelp, Facebook and other review sites also have reviews on various businesses that have been curated from past or current customers. Some people usually take time out to write about their experiences with a business so hopefully the reviews of whatever school you’re interested in should be able to give you a good idea of what impression they leave on their customers. I’d suggest reading the reviews with an open mind.

Visit The School

Once you have identified a certain school you would like to train with, you should schedule a visit before making any sort of deposit or down payments. It sounds trivial right? Trust me, a lot of people make up their mind to enroll with a flight school long before they actually see how the flight school operates and this is solely due to the impact of social media and the digital world, we currently live in. Some flight schools do a great job of marketing their services online which can be captivating for anybody but their training style might not be a good fit for everybody. This is why you need to visit the school and see for yourself if it is a good fit for you. Please bear in mind that a lot of flight schools offer flight training in different ways and that’s why it’s important to go there and talk to people, if possible, ask questions before you make a decision.

Take A Discovery Flight at The School

While visiting the school, like I alluded to earlier, it is a good idea to book a discovery flight beforehand so you can use the opportunity to see get an immersive experience into the flight training operation of the school, this helps you interact with their flight instructors, it will give you a first-hand experience to see how knowledgeable they are and how likeable they are. And most importantly it will give you a sneak peek of how safe their operations are. This will also help you determine if you are going to be excited to be taking flight lessons in general.

Research The School’s Safety Record

The aviation industry is so big on safety. Therefore, it’s important to do your due diligence to make sure the school you’re interested in takes safety seriously. This could be as easy as asking questions about how they maintain their aircrafts. This is to make sure they adhere to the FAA’s safety and standards procedure. A simple online search should show any news report about a school's safety history, if any.

Choosing the right flight school is important before you begin your flight training journey. You can use the few points listed above to get you started in order to uncover who to trust and who to stay away from. While there are some shady flight schools out there, there are also a lot of very good flight schools that take pride in the success and career progression of their students. Therefore, it’s up to you as an aspiring pilot to do your due diligence before committing to a flight school. Flight training at the very least is expensive and you don't want to waste any more resources than you have to because you failed to take a moment to research the options that are available to you. Good luck with your search and I wish you all the best wherever you decide to pursue your dreams of becoming a pilot!