Bay Area Flying Club

★★★☆☆ 3 out of 5 a year ago

New Review: This is going to be a long one. This should serve as an example for future students who want to get licensed here or even any school. I started training here back in April 2022 and it took a total of exactly 2 yrs to get my private pilot license after 235 hrs. wait what 235 for just vfr private pilot license? . you read it right 235 hrs. , but hey this is close to getting a commercial license? right? . big exclamation. wow!!!! 😮 something is not right here! so many questions to know what is going on here. so the follow up questions will be like: was I flying consistently? Yes i was every week 2-3 times. then the next question is, Is the student bad? or the instructor is bad? The first instructor (carson) literally took me for a ride- in aviation lingo - meaning cheated me and wasted my $$$$ and took my flying hours under his belly. He never let me do my student solo even after 150 hrs. I complained to the chief pilot at the time Jason to review me to see if I am really a bad student and he never answered my calls or texts for some reason. I had to literally call them everyday to fix my issue. After a month of calls, the school assigned me a new instructor (Taylor) and within 5hrs of classses with new instructor, I did my student solo. How is it possible ? well looks like I don't have much of a problem apparently. The school even today never apologized to me officially for putting me through an arduous time. I went there to have good time as this was my hobby and they made sure made it worse to me. I lost lots of confidence in my flying because of this first bad instructor. Once my student solo is completed my confidence level started coming back. I explained this to One of the DPE who was with the school. I met him while I was waiting in the lobby for my instructor and he apologized to me saying "on behalf of aviation community we apologize". See how good he was. Even though he has no association to me he sincerely apologized. I even explained this to my final DPE on my check-ride with whom I received my license, because he looked at my logbook and said 235? whoa! care to explain? I explained. The DPE said the school has to be banned for doing these malpractices. Even a simple sorry would have gone a long way for me. Finally when my 2nd instructor moved on for his life goals ( I thanked him whole heartedly after I got my license), Asante the new instructor was assigned to me and he is an excellent instructor who went an extra mile for me to travel with me to oregon for my check-ride. He was so good and meticulous in every aspect of the topic. He is as they say you cant find a better one. Even though the school has good instructors and good management (if I say so) 😬, there were some bad apples with whom I got stuck and was frauded for my innocence in aviation community. So the gist of my story is be careful and lookout for these bad apples. I look at this experience in a positive way as you know in aviation every hour counts to your experience. I have more hours now, got more confidence in my flying and got more experience now even though got cheated in the way. As the saying goes more the merrier. It served me in a different way. Karma has its way of working things out in life. Old Review: Great place with great CFIs and friendly staff!

Yashwanth Reddy Padooru

★★★★★ 5 out of 5 2 years ago

I recently started flight training under the guidance of Iroj at BAFC, and I cannot speak highly enough of the experience. From day one, Iroj demonstrated an unparalleled level of professionalism and expertise. His passion for aviation was contagious, making every lesson not just instructional but genuinely enjoyable. His patient and clear teaching style ensured that I felt comfortable and confident throughout the entire process. The facilities at BAFC were also top-notch, providing a conducive environment for learning and practice. The administrative staff were always friendly and helpful, making scheduling and logistics seamless.

Collin Ma

★☆☆☆☆ 1 out of 5 2 years ago

If I could give this place zero stars, I would. They tolerate you as long as they're earning a profit off of you. Sometimes, you will feel like they're PURPOSELY STALLING your progress so they can milk more money off you. The instructors are generally nice people, I feel sorry for them, they always seem willing to help. Maintenance is a mess, planes are ALWAYS down so you can't train. Oh, the best part is if you have a complaint? The owner will threaten to kick you out of the club!! Bottom line is that the front desk are nice, polite people, but unfortunately the business is badly run so there's no quality to the service. p.s. One of the positive reviews is from an instructor who's paid by the business so take what you read with a mountain of salt.

S. W.

★★★★★ 5 out of 5 6 years ago

I have been with Bay Area Flying Club for four months now. I have progressed from zero hours to taking my test for my Private Pilot License within these four months (around 55-60 hours)! Your speed of progress comes down to your time and financial availability, however, Bay Area Flying Club has a strong fleet and a good number of instructors. My first week I went in and I stated my intentions for flying and I was paired with an excellent instructor who fitted my learning style. The instructors have been incredibly helpful. When my primary Certified Flight Instructor (CFI) was busy then I was able to proceed with multiple others for a specific lesson. Overall, for being such a new flight school at Livermore airport, I am impressed with the structure that has already been established and I look forward to furthering my flight experience with them.

Connor Tetzloff

★★★★★ 5 out of 5 7 years ago

An awesome experience! The perfect recipe started with a great deal of attention-to-detail by their customer service. Katie Hartford helped me setup the discovery flight, with a very prompt and courteous responses, and accommodated my requests. The pilot ‘Logan’ is also an exceptionally good communicator for the first timers. I am sure he will be just as great for any experienced flyers. Logan gave my 6 yo a great deal of attention before and during flight, and made him super comfortable and fun. There is no doubt that the young man will look forward to a career in flying one day. Katie and Logan well exceeded my expectations — quite a compliment from a high expectation customer. :) We achieved the goal to satisfy the curiosity of my son, and he had a better time than I really expected. If we are in the area long enough that he is at the age to take professional flying lessons, we will be back at the American Flying School / Bay Area Flying Club, Livermore CA. Until then, I’m sure we will experience this again. Thanks Katie and Logan!

Usman Nasir