About Santa Monica Flyers

Why Santa Monica Flyers?

SPORTCRUISERS, ABUNDANT OPTIONS & AMAZING PEOPLE

We use one of the most modern, fuel-efficient, low-maintenance light-sport aircraft currently available for “primary training”: the SportCruiser. Everyone wants to be kind to Mother Nature; the SportCruiser sips fuel at roughly half the rate of a standard category airplane. Additionally, the hugely reliable Rotax engine and simple aircraft design mean minimal maintenance is the order of the day for the SportCruiser. All of this translates to savings for you while compromising nothing in terms of quality.

In addition to the SportCruiser, our school offers various other aircraft for intermediary and advanced training. We operate six standard Cessna 172s (at low hourly rates), one G1000-paneled Cessna 172S, a Cessna 172RG (a “complex” airplane), a Super Decathlon (tailwheel AND spin/aerobatic trainer), and 3 Cirrus SR20s (the most luxurious and stylish of them all). All of these airplanes mean we can provide you the flight training necessary for almost every certificate, rating, or endorsement beyond the sport and private certificate. The Instrument Rating, Commercial Certificate, CFI, Complex Endorsement, Tailwheel Endorsement, and High-Performance Endorsement are all available at Santa Monica Flyers.

Finally, Santa Monica Flyers is staffed by only the highest quality Certified Flight Instructors in Southern California, lead by Chief CFI, Scotty Weber, and GM, Daniel Grijalva. The highly-experienced instructors at Santa Monica Flyers are professional, approachable, and available. They can walk you through any aviation goal you have for yourself or any aviation career pursuit. Most importantly, our CFIs are experts in training people to become proficient, safe pilots. And our friendly office staff and flight line crew are always there for you and will do whatever they can to help you progress through your training.

We ask only one thing of our students: be ready to learn!

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The Airport

Learn to Fly at Santa Monica Airport

Having left Ampleforth College in 2006, Charles Thomson founded Santa Monica Flyers in 2009. From the outset, the goal of the business was to make flying accessible, safe, affordable, and fun. 

Santa Monica Airport

Airport in Santa Monica, California

Support Staff

Santa Monica Flyers - The Best Flight School in California

danny_grijalva

DANNY GRIJALVA

General Manager
Jorge Senecas

JORGE SANCHEZ

Operations Manager

CODY WILLIAMS

Flight Line Operations

ANDY HILL

Flight Line Operations

NITASHA CHAND

Front Desk Manager

YASEMIN ÖZGÜR

Front Desk Operations

DEYLA VALLE

Front Desk Operations

MATT COLON

Flight Line Operations

Company History

Santa Monica Flyers - The Best Flight School in California

Having left Ampleforth College in 2006, Charles Thomson founded Santa Monica Flyers in 2009. From the outset, the goal of the business was to make flying accessible, safe, affordable, and fun. The selection of the SportCruiser was instrumental in realizing that goal, and from a single airplane in 2009, the business has grown to five SportCruiser aircraft today. During this time, the school has graduated hundreds of students from both Sport Pilot and Private Pilot courses.

Owner Charles Thomson

CHARLES THOMSON

OWNER

“I’m a Scottish native who moved to LA at 18 and started Santa Monica Flyers when I was 20. My older brother taught me to fly. I started Santa Monica Flyers after being in a plane crash while attending a different school on the field. Flight schools should use newer, safer airplanes while charging less, thus making flying safer and more affordable to the average person.”

ARE YOU READY TO FLY?

Sign up for your Intro Flight today!