CFI Flight Academy

This flight school sets the standards high. After an awful experience with a flight school in the Okotoks area, I had to stop my commercial training. But after I reached out to CFI in hopes of finishing of my training, the stress that had been built up just dissipated from me. They took me in and treated me like I was one of their own.

The environment - unparalleled to any flight school in Alberta. The entire terminal is spotless. They say you can tell the state of a business by how clean their facilities are. This is a perfect example. The terminal building houses 2 bathrooms, a shower, a kitchen, a couch area, a simulator, a navigation station, a classroom, and one of the nicest hangars I've seen. Every one of these spaces is maintained under the meticulous eye of the owner with the standards of a military sergeant. On-top of the physical environment, the emotional aspect of the school is such an important factor. And again they punch a hole through any experience you could get at another flight school. Every member of their staff makes you feel right at home. You can feel comfortable enough to get personal with them and yet have no inkling of a feeling like the professional side of the training is diminished. Truly a unique opportunity in flight training.

The staff - Bruno is the kind of person you want to train you. He has added a military touch to civilian aviation training. When you get the chance to fly with him you can see what I am trying to describe. Knowledgeable, friendly, and most importantly -patient. If you are doing something wrong in a maneuver, he will be quick to correct you. But he gives you a chance to find the error first before he give you a friendly slap on the wrist. Coddling isn't in his vocabulary, which again is a hugely important trait you want in a flight instructor. He is teaching you how to fly, but to do it safely. Just wait for the post flight briefing for any praise you may be seeking after one of his lessons. Pamela handles the financials of the school. I can guarantee that when you walk inside the terminal and she is there, that you will see one of the friendliest smiles you've ever received. She will send you invoices promptly and without any prodding. Consider her the organizational backbone of the whole operation. I've received all my bills and receipts on time and in order with breakdowns of the costs. At my old flight school, I had to consistently poke at the owner to give me proper billings. And a receipt? If I was lucky and sent a couple more emails. Pamela has wiped away my previous terrible experiences regarding this side of aviation training at my past school with her professional layout at CFI. Grant is one of the instructors at this location. The only smile who can hold a light to Pamela's is Grant's. If you want an instructor who is passionate about flying, he is the guy. You can tell that he enjoys being in the industry and shows up to work everyday being a role model for aspiring flight instructors. Many flight schools claim to be a "family". But this is the only flight school I know where this rings true. I was a real priority to them. Some flight schools lose this care for the students once the money starts rolling in and their eyes glaze over the names of students until they become numbers to slot in a spreadsheet. But not here. Your name stays a name and not a simple entry in the logs. In fact, you usually can count on earning a nickname after you are at the school for awhile- be warned that it will stick!

The plane - Their Cessna 172, GUIM is the gem of the area. This queen of the fleet has been given a fresh breath of life that puts it at the top of my personal list of any plane I have flown before. Its been beautifully coated in a striking paint job that gives you the feeling of climbing into an airliner plane. Performance wise, she stands up to the call as well.

Overall - They honestly saved my flight school experience. I couldn't recommend them enough. If you have any questions about the student experience here I'd be happy to answer them.

I am currently in the process of obtaining my CPL with the school and I could not be happier, the flight and ground training that the schools provides is superb, the owner/CFI (Mr. Bruno) is also a certified flight instructor with several thousand of hours under his belt and flight experiences that range from small general aviation planes, commercial airliners, all the way up to Navy fighter Aircraft, and that makes everything much better, he is always able to provide a good answer to whatever question I can come up with and you can easily tell that his main focus is help you out achieve your license and make you a good pilot.

These are some key features that I personally love about the school:

1- The school operates off an "Uncontrolled" airport, which makes your ground time and distance from the airport to the practice area much shorter and this translates to NOT having to be paying extra money just to be sitting in the plane on the ground waiting for a clearance. I got my PPL on a Controlled airport where sometimes I had to wait up to 45 minutes on the Run-up bay or taxi ways before being cleared to take off and then still fly for another 15 to 20 minutes to the designated practice area, and that converted to a lot of money wasted, money that I could have put towards training. DO NOT have that problem here.

2- The peace of mind that the aircraft is safe and sound at all times. I've been an AME (Aircraft Maintenance Engineer) for the past 10 years and have worked on planes from Airliners all the way to small Cessnas 150, in Canada and Overseas and also been involved with the maintenance of some flight schools, this means I can probably see things that normal students (without a maintenance background) would not be able to, gives me that extra boost of confidence every time a do a walkaround prior a flight and see that the aircraft is in excellent shape. Also the owner is all about safety which is a rare find among operators to be honest.

3- The fact that the owner can speak different languages. As you can probably tell by my name, spanish is my mother tongue, and being able to speak to the owner on my own language some times are the difference between understanding and not understanding a topic at all.

4- The PAINT JOB, omg I've never seen a flight school look so good, I dont feel bad every time I post a picture flying or of the plane on social media because the plane looks very good. Most schools dont care about the looks because of course, it is expensive and all they want is those dollars in the account, but CFI just feels different, and you can tell by something as simple as the paint job and the level of quality that was put into it.

I hope this help someone out there that is looking for a great spot to get their license.

And dont worry about aviation, we were in a big shortage before the Pandemic and now with all the early retirements and people who switch careers the shortage is gonna be even bigger, just be focus and be patient.

good organization, good atmosphere with high quality instructors, no doubt the best flight school where to learn.

It is the best flight academy in Alberta, the ground staff, its instructors, classrooms and equipment are excellent, totally recommended.

Highly recommended, probably the best flight academy in Alberta or Canada! Very fair priced, instructors are awesome and I couldn’t ask for anything better !