Southwest Flight Center Review

I am a private pilot with 240 hours of experience. Several months ago I checked out in Southwest Flight Center s C172 plane and had a successful experience. The CFI, Mark B., was professional and an excellent pilot and instructor. He signed me off, and I was able to rent their 172sp models.

As part of my commitment to flying, I occasionally choose to go up with an instructor to remain sharp and competent in my airmanship and knowledge of the aircraft. I recently called Southwest Flight Center and requested to rent an aircraft with an instructor. Judy took my call and was very helpful in scheduling me with Tonie and N3154U. Tonie and I met at the airport and planned the flight. Since I had to be at work at 9 am that morning, I decided it would be best to stay in the pattern and work on touch-n-go s. We continued as planned and did 5 or 6 turns around the circuit. Everything went smoothly. Tonie was an excellent instructor and is exactly what a CFI should be.

Since we had a short flight that morning, I decided it would be best to schedule again for the weekend to work on airwork (stalls, steep turns, emergency maneuvers, etc.) Tonie was able to fit me in that Saturday morning and put us on the schedule.

Later that day, I decided I also wanted to fly on Sunday morning after my already scheduled lesson with Tonie. The older man (Richard), who works the front desk at Southwest Flight Center, answered my phone call, and I requested to reserve the aircraft for Sunday in addition to my already scheduled lesson on Saturday. For some reason, he became agitated by this request and said that he would have to rethink whether I should be renting the airplane or not; he said he would get back to me. I asked why that was since I have flown their aircraft numerous times in the past without any issues. He responded by saying he wasn't comfortable renting his airplanes to me because I was scheduling instructors. I told him it s common and routine for pilots to get recurrent training to stay competent and current. He told me that after 30 years of experience in the aviation business, he found this approach to be unusual.

I was speechless that an employee of a flight school would say that. He was incredibly rude when voicing his opinion, and when I said that this is ridiculous to deny pilots in this way, he became defensive and told me that I was not allowed to fly his company s airplane on Sunday and that he was also taking me off the schedule for Saturday with Tonie. He quickly hung up on me.

Richard is not a pilot but he is a gatekeeper to the airplanes and doesn t consult with the instructors. No pilot should feel bad or be reprimanded for seeking out additional flight instruction. Safety is #1 in aviation and people getting in the way of it do not belong in this industry. I doubt I am the only one he has turned away with this behavior. The pilot population is shrinking and aviation cannot afford to have people like Richard treating others this way. It s a true shame he represents Southwest Flight Center, because otherwise, they have great instructors and decent aircraft. I am now completely uncomfortable calling this business or seeing/speaking with Richard again. I will have to look at alternative options at the Scottsdale airport.

Southwest Flight Center has been nothing less than amazing. All of the instructors I've met seem to genuinely love teaching (instead of the all too common time builders). The people working the front desk have always been very friendly and prompt (minor maintenance issues are resolved quickly). Their aircraft are clean, well taken care of, and always seem to be available. The prices are cheaper than or comparable to anything else in the area for equal equipment.

In reference to Brent S. experience: I've continued to get recurrent training here after getting my PPL with them, and have never had an issue checking out an aircraft while doing so. If that was previously the culture here, it certainly isn't now.

If you are an instrument rated pilot looking for an affordable FAA approved flight simulator to stay current this is a great place to go. After a brief initial checkout you can fly the sim solo. They were helpful and fair with their pricing.

This is a great place to learn, practice, rent and enjoy flying in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere with great instructors, aircraft and staff in general. I would recommend anybody to take lessons, fly and rent at Southwest Flight Center. And above all, their rates are very fair.

I received a 1 hour session as a present. I had no flying experience and simply wanted to fly around the area. Instead the session was limited to landing and take off from multiple airports and AN AIRCRAFT CARRIER!!! After my 3rd botched landing the owner took over and I just sat there. Probably good for prospective pilots but terrible experience for anyone else.

I am an airplane provider to Southwest Fight Center.
I noticed the comments last week in Google by Bent S and a number of other sites that review Southwest Flight Center and was particularly disturbed that you were denied renting an airplane. My concern stems from the fact that I am the owner of a leasing company that provides planes and simulators to flights schools including SWFC. I felt I had to look into this matter more closely since my revenue streams come directly from renters like you. I met with the owners of the school and ask them to provide their side of the event.
The following are my observations:
you have 240 flight hours spread over a period of six years and are not Instrument rated
you did not state your intended plan for this flight to the instructors, and only to Richard on the previous day.
you did not request the company instructors to assess your night flying abilities, which may have been required had you remained longer than expected at Kartchner Caverns.
departing at night from dark remote airfields, such as Benson, is practically an IFR departure procedure due to inadequate visual references needed to maintain control of the airplane.
I agree with his refusal to permit you to fly with passengers to an area with which you were not familiar, specifically to a non-controlled airport (Benson Muni) having limited services, and no definite time for the return flight.
My sense is that had you discussed your intentions with Richard earlier than the day before your intended trip, the conversation might have been more cordial and he might have understood your desire to frequently have your airmanship evaluated by an instructor and could have expressed his concern regarding your destination and timing.
As an aside, Richard related an incident with another relatively low time pilot who was angry that he would not allow him to rent an airplane to visit a destination with which he was not familiar. The pilot was able to obtain a rental from another school, flew his flight, and killed himself and his passengers when the airplane crashed. This is certainly not implying that this would have been your outcome, but it is important that all parties be comfortable with the plans and destinations of all flights. I find the safety record of SWFC is admirable.

Horrible Flight Group. Flakey pilot never showed to provide a simulator flight so our family was promised a free introductory flight. Three weeks later, company called to cancel again based on the reason that their pilot had not idea who we were and why we had scheduled a flight. Company will not refund any portion of the money spent through Groupon even though they have received their portion of the dollar amount. Flight representative was rude and did not care about us writing a negative review based on the fact that they have 30 years of experience and our review will mean nothing to them. Buyer Beware!! Make sure you trust who is taking you up into the air!

WATCH OUT!! We trusted this company to conduct an annual inspection of our Cessna 340 - which was priced at $3,825 with a final price expectation of around $9-10K, subject to finding a major issue - and after having an inexperienced inspector spend over 5 weeks with NO major issues they presented us with a bill of over 17K. They had no authorization to accelerate the bill to that level. Simply put - they considered the inspection an "open checkbook". Do not trust this company - we are no litigating the fees

I m a 50 year old student pilot. Have been taking weekly lessons for months. I ve become a safe and competent pilot at Southwest Flight Center. I can t believe I can fly a plane and land it too. So awesome.

My instructor, Cliff, will continue to push you and to encourage you to become a better pilot. He taught this old dog new tricks. He also teaches my teenage son and daughter too.

I picked back up on my private pilots license after a year and a half of not flying and I was able to get back on track super quick. My instructor Cliff got me to solo for the first time within a few weeks of me starting again and gives me great instruction. I highly recommend going here for all of your flight training needs.

Be very cautious with these thieves!!! I started flying with them 10 years ago and they took advantage of me big time. $20k later and no solo. My instructor was horrible and didn't care. They just saw my AMEX. When I finally got real instruction, my CFI commented, "who thought you to land? they thought you all wrong". Richard the owner is the biggest thief of them all, rude and I would not recommend this place. Stay as far away as possible. Since then I've learned the hard truth on how to deal with FBO training centers....you just don't find private instruction.