There are no graduate stories on this page yet, because You Fly LA is new and we are not going to invent any. What follows instead is what a graduate story here will contain when we have one, what the realistic paths out of this school look like, and how to send us yours once you have flown with us.
We take the same line on this as we do on reviews: no borrowed testimonials, no stock photographs of somebody else's students, no star rating we have not earned. If you want to judge us before there are graduates to point at, the last section of this page explains what to ask instead.
Why This Page Is Deliberately Empty
Flight school marketing has a well-worn pattern: a photograph of a smiling person in epaulettes, a first name, an airline logo, and a sentence about a dream coming true. Almost none of it can be checked. Some of it belongs to a different school entirely, and some of those graduates never existed.
We would rather publish nothing than publish that. It also makes the page you are reading more useful than it looks, because everything below is verifiable: the hour requirements are in the regulations, the prices are ours, and the paths are the ones the industry actually uses. When we have graduates, their stories will sit here with their consent and in their own words, and you will be able to tell which parts are quotation and which parts are ours.
What A Graduate Story Here Will Contain
- The certificate or rating earned, and when. A month and a year, not a vague reference to "recently".
- The hours it actually took. Including the gap between the legal minimum and their real total, because that gap is the honest part.
- The aircraft flown and the instructor who signed them off. Named, so you can ask that instructor about it.
- What they are doing now. Flying for fun, instructing, building hours, or working toward an airline seat.
- Their own words, unedited in meaning. We will correct a typo. We will not improve a sentence into something they did not say.
- Nothing about pass rates or guarantees. We do not publish a first-time pass rate, because a school with a small number of checkrides can make any figure look like anything.
Where Our Students Realistically Go Next
The ladder is the same for everyone, and it is set by regulation rather than by any school's marketing. Here is what each rung requires and what it opens up.
| Stage | Key Requirement | Our Course | What It Lets You Do |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private Pilot | 40 hours minimum, 14 CFR 61.109 | $10,400 standard | Carry passengers, not for compensation, under 61.113 |
| Instrument Rating | 40 hours instrument time, 14 CFR 61.65 | $11,700 | Flying in cloud and in the system, and far fewer cancellations |
| Commercial Pilot | 250 hours total time, 14 CFR 61.129 | $15,400 | Being paid to fly, within the limits of the certificate |
| Multi-Engine Rating | Training and proficiency, 14 CFR 61.63 | $5,100, seven days | Twins, and most professional flying |
| Flight Instructor, CFI, CFII, MEI | 14 CFR 61.183, including the spin endorsement in 61.183(i) | $15,400 | Teaching, and the most common way to build hours |
| Restricted ATP | Reduced minimums under 14 CFR 61.160 | — | A first officer seat at a regional airline |
| Airline Transport Pilot | 1,500 hours, 14 CFR 61.159 | — | The full certificate; 121.436 governs the airline requirement |
Our Airline Pilot Career Program runs that sequence end to end for $84,000 over roughly nine months and 260 logged hours, ending with every rating through MEI. Most people do not take that route, and there is nothing wrong with stopping at a private certificate and flying friends to Santa Barbara for lunch for the next thirty years.
What Happens Between Certificates
The stories that get published tend to skip the gaps, and the gaps are where most people actually struggle. Here is what they look like.
After a private pilot certificate there is usually a quiet period. The pressure of a syllabus disappears, the flying becomes optional, and the hours slow down. Two regulations quietly govern that stretch. A flight review under 14 CFR 61.56 is required every 24 calendar months, and it is an hour of ground plus an hour of flight with an instructor rather than a test. Carrying passengers requires three takeoffs and landings in the preceding 90 days under 14 CFR 61.57(b), at night in the same category and class if the flight is at night. Neither is difficult; both catch people who stop flying for a year.
Between commercial and an airline seat the gap is hours, not skill. That is the stretch where instructing, and the other low-time commercial work described below, does the heavy lifting, and it is measured in a year or two rather than in weeks. Anyone who tells you otherwise is selling something.
The Jobs That Exist At 250 Hours
The honest gap in any airline plan is between a commercial certificate at around 250 hours and the 1,500 hours an ATP needs, or the reduced figure under 61.160. Flight instruction is the most common bridge, which is why our CFI program exists and why we will review a graduate for an instructor position when they finish it. We will not promise a job, and you should be skeptical of any school that does.
Instruction is not the only option. Banner towing, traffic reporting, aerial survey and photography, pipeline patrol and jump-ship flying all hire low-time commercial pilots, and all of them build the kind of hours an employer respects. Our page on time building in Los Angeles covers doing it on your own account instead.
How To Send Us Your Story
If you have trained with us, tell us what happened. Call (818) 330-1318 or write to us through the contact page, and include the certificate or rating you earned, roughly when, the hours it took, the instructor you flew with, and what you are doing with it now. A photograph is welcome and not required.
We will ask you to confirm in writing that we may publish it, we will show you the page before it goes live, and we will take it down on request at any time afterwards, with no argument. If your story includes something that did not go well, we would rather publish that too. A page of unbroken praise is not evidence of a good school; it is evidence of editing.
A Note On Photographs And Names
Every photograph on this site was taken on our own ramp, in our own hangar or in our own aircraft. We do not buy stock images of other people's students and present them as ours, and we do not use a photograph of a person in a story about a different person.
When graduate stories appear here, they will run under a first name unless the graduate specifically asks for more. That is not coyness, it is the same standard we apply to our instructors, who are listed by first name on the instructor roster. If you would rather your story appeared without a photograph, or without your name at all, say so and it will. The value of these stories to a reader is in the detail of what actually happened, not in how identifiable the person is.
How To Judge A School That Has No Graduates Yet
- Look at the instructors, not the testimonials. Ours are named, photographed and described on our instructor roster, with what each one teaches.
- Look at the fleet and the rates. Tail numbers, avionics and a published hourly rate for every aircraft are harder to fake than a quotation.
- Ask what happens if the course runs long. Ask it before you pay, and ask for the answer in writing.
- Ask who signs your stage checks. At a Part 61 school there is no regulatory requirement for a second instructor to check you, so ask whether one does anyway.
- Ask about the aircraft you will actually fly. Availability, not the brochure fleet, decides how fast you finish.
Related Reading
- Reviews and our promises — what we will and will not publish.
- Airline Pilot Career Program — the full sequence, $84,000 over about nine months.
- Flight instructor course — the most common way to build hours after commercial.
- Our flight instructors — the people who will sign your endorsements.
- Questions to ask a flight school — including the awkward ones.
- Women in aviation — chapters near Los Angeles and the scholarships they run.
Graduate Stories: Frequently Asked Questions
Why Are There No Graduate Stories On This Page?
Because You Fly LA is new and we will not publish testimonials we did not earn or borrow them from anywhere else. Real stories will appear here as our students finish their certificates.
Do You Publish A Checkride Pass Rate?
No. A school with a small number of checkrides can present almost any figure favorably, so the number would not tell you anything reliable.
How Do I Submit My Own Story?
Call (818) 330-1318 or use the contact page. Include the certificate or rating, roughly when you earned it, the hours it took, your instructor, and what you are doing now. We will confirm consent in writing before publishing.
Will You Edit What I Write?
Only for typographical errors. We will not rewrite a sentence into something you did not say, and we will remove your story at any time if you ask.
Can You Guarantee Me A Job After The CFI Course?
No. We will review a graduate of our flight instructor program for an instructor position when they finish, which is not the same thing as a guarantee, and no honest school offers one.
How Many Hours Do I Need For An Airline?
1,500 hours for an unrestricted airline transport pilot certificate under 14 CFR 61.159, or a reduced figure under the restricted ATP provisions in 61.160 if you qualify. 14 CFR 121.436 governs the airline requirement itself.
What Can I Do With A Commercial Certificate At 250 Hours?
Flight instruction is the most common route. Banner towing, traffic reporting, aerial survey and photography, pipeline patrol and jump-ship flying also hire low-time commercial pilots.
Be One Of The First
Somebody has to be the first graduate story on this page. If you want it to be you, start with a 60-minute discovery flight at $229, which is logged as dual instruction and credited in full toward training if you enroll within 24 hours, or book a free consultation and we will map out the certificates, the hours and the cost honestly. Call (818) 330-1318 any day between 9:00 AM and 9:00 PM.