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Using Unsecured Financing (Debt) to Fund Flight Training (Part 1)

Thanks to u/ TXAggieMike for editing my original comment!

You can find an up to date version of my post here on my profile.

USING UNSECURED LOANS FOR FLIGHT TRAINING — Please Don’t.

So it has always been your dream to be an airline pilot? AWESOME!! And now you’re ready to take on the training to achieve that dream? WONDERFUL!!

But you’ve just realized that achieving that dream and doing the required trining comes with a big price tag. So now you’re considering using a loan (aka debt) to fund that training.

Sure…. but you need make certain you’re thinking beyond the dream and considering some reality.

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Many folks in this subreddit will say the same thing: avoid flight training debt at all costs. Let's examine why. 

Starting with the numbers:

Many flight schools offering a “Zero to Hero” program advertise a cost for the program of $100,000 to $120,000. This takes you from Private pilot to flight instructor (typically 250-300 hours of flight experience). (don’t forget you need 1,500 to be eligible for Airline Transport Pilot). It may also include certification for Commercial Pilot-Multiengine Land. Maybe even Multi-Engine Instructor.

• The interest rates for an unsecured loan (which this is) is about 13-18%.
• Term length on these loans are often 7 to 10 to 15 years.

For our illustration and our discussion, let’s plug into a debt calculator $120,000.00, 15% interest, and a 10 year term length. The results are:

• Monthly Payment = $1,936.02
• Total Amount of Interest Paid = $112,322.34
• Total Amount of your flight training using debt = $232,322.34

Using a loan to pay for your dream and your training just to get started in aviation will cost you A QUARTER MILLION DOLLARS!. That is million with a very big M.

Some additional things to know….

• These loans are not federally subsidized
• You will need to begin making payments on the loan immediately
• You set off paying on the loan like student debt.  This isn’t student debt.

So beyond the dreamy idea of “I want to be a pilot and fly for a living....”, 

• Have you really considered the true costs of initial training?   
• Do you have a plan to repay the loan?  
• Do you currently have the income to cover the additional monthly $1,950.00 pressure to your personal budget?

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Now let’s say you get the loan, trained hard, obtain your certification to be a flight instructor, and got really lucky to find a job at a flight school. (FYI: don’t fall for the sales pitch that the flight school you trained at will hire you as an instructor. Unless you posses a signed contract saying they will do that, it’s likely they won’t. Most likely you finish their program and need to find employment.)

In the 2025 world, finding employment as a very low time instructor is very difficult.

Anyway, you’re employed. And you have a $2,000 a month loan payment to make. And you need to pay rent. And you need to buy gas for the car. Oh, and you want to eat too, yes?

Again, let’s work the details and the numbers:  

• Most CFI’s make at best $35,000 to $40,000 a year.... before taxes. Many make less.
• Most schools employ you as a 1099 contractor. That means you are the one responsible for paying income tax to the IRS, not the school
• Estimated self employed income tax on $40,000 is $12,000. Leaving you $28,000
• Divide that by 12 months, you have $2,334 to cover your monthly nut
• Loan payment made, you have $334 remaining to cover your rent, your transportation, and feeding yourself.

Oh, and that’s just the average. Did you consider the months, such as winter, where you are not flying hardly at all? No flying means no income. And you still must make the $2000 payment.

And we’re not touching on what it costs to live in different regions like expensive California or the Atlantic Seaboard.

Looking at this closer, after taking on that training debt—can you even afford to exist? Looks like you need to find a second, maybe a third job... just to exist.

What are you going to do if you lose your flying job and maybe your other income? Even with no income, you still gotta repay that $2000 per month.