Flight Training - Frequently Asked Questions

Monarch Air was established in June of 1986 by my parents for one basic reason - to provide a professional quality flight training school. With major airline experience from both my father and me, we have established a structured and organized training environment that parallels training programs we both encounter with our airline careers. This in return provides our clients a foundation to achieve their pilot certificates in an efficient manner. By providing a complete training facility with quality aircraft and professional full time instructors, Monarch Air is able to help you become one of the safest and most competent pilots in a timely manner. 

Monarch Air has a proven safety record for many years. All training aircraft are maintained by our FAA approved Repair Station to standards more demanding than the required FAA regulations. Our fleet is inspected every 50 hours to ensure our commitment to the highest quality of safety. 

According to the FAA minimums required to obtain a certificate of 35 hours, the cost would be $6,539.90 in our most economical trainer . Is this a realistic figure? - No. Our professional clients who fly twice a day, six days a week and have no other distractions have a strong possibility of completing the program close to these hours.

However, a majority of clients are flying for recreational purposes and have other life commitments such as family and employment that do not allow them to dedicate themselves fully to their flight training. This type of client will usually obtain their certificate for $ $8,000 to $9,500 using one or more expensive hourly aircraft, such as the glass cockpit Cessna 172. The simple equation to figure where you will lie in those amounts will be determined by how often you can fly per week. The more you fly, 3 times a week is recommended, the fewer dollars out of your pocket.

There are several options - you can pay each time you fly by cash, check, or most major credit cards, or you can place a deposit on your account and have each flight deducted (required for international students).

Similar to the answer above - the more you can fly each week, the sooner you will be done. Typically, if you can fly 2-3 times each week, your training can be completed in 3 to 4 months. Professional clients can finish as soon as 6 weeks.

Scheduling lessons is very simple. We are here to accommodate your schedule. All you need to do is contact your Flight Instructor and tell him/her when you would like to have a lesson. You can schedule several in advance, or one at time - whatever is convenient for you.

No. It's all about convenience. Instead of the old school teaching of watching test-prep videos, studying test books, or going to a ground school class twice every week, you can use Monarch Air and Cessna's Computer-Based Instruction (CBI) program – an interactive CD-ROM ground school that includes all the material for the written exam, required knowledge, and then some. You can complete all of the necessary labs at home, at work, in Monarch's CPC Center, or on the road - wherever you have access to a computer.

Yes, we do and I cannot explain how important this question is. Over the past years, several flight training schools have been dropped from their insurance. Some schools still have coverage, yet the coverage can be limiting, such as limit per seat of the aircraft or a very high deductible such as $5,000. Monarch Air's superior training record allows us to have a higher degree of coverage - $1,000,000 liability and a $2,500 deductible. The majority of us will never have an event that will need insurance coverage; however in the unlikely event that we do, adequate coverage with minimal dollars out of our pockets is important. Additionally, I recommend to all of our clients to obtain a renter insurance policy for themselves - it's around $100-$300 per year. In today's world, you cannot have enough coverage.

In the event the weather has low visibility, low ceilings, stormy weather, high winds, the instructor will contact you.  Either the lesson will be rescheduled or you can keep the lesson if there are other things that need to be accomplished and those can still be conducted that day.

Monarch Air has the newest and largest training fleet of aircraft in the north Texas area. Private Pilot training is conducted in the Cessna 172SP. The Cessna 172 model is the safest general aviation training aircraft in the world.

Yes - Monarch Air rental fleet allows you to rent aircraft after receiving your Private Pilot Certificate. This means you can take an aircraft out for the day to visit out-of-town relatives, or to eat lunch or dinner somewhere different, such as Austin!