Trade Winds Aviation

★★★★☆ 4 out of 5 a year ago

UPDATED review, Jan 2025: This update has been overdue for a while. Our situation at Trade Winds has improved significantly since my original review. My daughter got enrolled with a teacher who is wonderful and responsive. The desk and admin staff at Trade Winds pick up when you call now, respond to emails, and in general resolve all issues promptly. The online scheduling system works well. Overall, I have no more complaints and only good things to say. If only we'd started out like this, I could give a 5-star review without hesitation. As it is, I'll knock off one star for the rough start and leave a 4-star review. Original 1-star review from March 2024: This company seems very disorganized. They can’t seem to connect eager students to teachers. They lose their wait lists. Nothing seems to happen unless you call and bug them. They don’t pick up the phone & don’t return messages. They can’t hold on to their staff. Here’s our experience: We have been trying to start flight lessons for my daughter for months. I called them in Oct 2023 to register; we were told she was on a waitlist for a flight instructor and it might take a month to be paired with a teacher. So I waited and after *two* months with no news called them back for an update. They said they were about to do it… one more week (late Dec 2023) and finally got an instructor assigned. Hooray! We met the instructor, registered in the scheduling system, paid hundreds of dollars for online ground school, and started eagerly waiting to be able to fly. 2 months of winter rain delays, then in Feb 2024 the teacher we’d waited so long for quit Tradewinds and we were back where we started last Oct 2023, back on the wait list for an instructor. I was told Feb 3rd that it wouldn’t take long since we had previously been enrolled with a teacher. No news from Tradewinds so on Feb 19th I called to check; no answer. On Feb 27th & Mar 9th I called & left messages. Nobody returned my messages. On March 9th (today) I called and somebody answered! Hallelujah! The person had no answer or explanation and could only say “perhaps you got lost on the wait list”. They said they’d look into it. I should’ve changed to a different flight school months ago.

April Hixson-Goldsmith

★★★★★ 5 out of 5 2 years ago

I had a wonderful experience today flying a Cessna at Trade Winds. It was the 1st time for me. The instructor arrived on time and Shaddi at front desk answered all my questions patiently. They went over and beyond to ensure I'm absolutely comfortable. I will definitely recommend them always and hope to return for another flight soon. Thanks a Ton 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

Vijay Narayanan

★★★★★ 5 out of 5 4 years ago

I am currently a student pilot here and am very impressed with the quality of the facility, airplanes, maintenance, and instructors. I would definitely recommend them if you're looking to learn to fly or rent. No complaints at all so far. They're very thorough.

Kip Abell

★★★★★ 5 out of 5 5 years ago

This by far the best aviation school I have been to. I tried 2 schools before and I'm picky. Clean and we'll maintained airplanes, great customer service and wonderful training team. Terry, Chris and Niklas are amazing CFIs. Highly recommended.

Dr. Hani Jamah

★★★★★ 5 out of 5 8 years ago

A great place to learn how to fly. I was only able to take ground school but even that was well done. They've expanded their classroom floorspace and can accommodate more students at one time. All of their instructors are top notch. They also have a very competent squad of mechanics. Best of all, they have"pilot fuel" ... snacks and coffee!

Alain Gyger