Austin Academy of Aviation

I earned my private pilot license at Austin Academy of Aviation in 2002 then took a 13 year hiatus from flying. Returned to get current under Virgil Kennedy in 2015, earned an instrument rating then a multi-​engine rating. I now rent planes from their fleet for business and personal travel.
I looked at other flight training options around Austin, but decided to return to AAofA. Under the tutelage of Virgil, the AAofA is a very good school. The young instructors come and go due to the nature of the business; however, all of the ones I have trained with are smart and professional. The fleet of planes is very well maintained. The training is not the cheapest, but I am not willing to cut corners to get a better price — and neither is Virgil.
So if you are looking for a good school, professional instruction, safe planes and good people — look no further.

It was my husband’s birthday present, and I was hoping for him to have a good time during his introductory flight lesson. When we arrived, Clint was very friendly and professional. He calmed my fears during the flight and never skipped a beat, explaining everything to us. My husband’s introduction was very hands-​on, with his participation during takeoff and landing, and steering for most of the time in the sky. I can’t talk enough about how wonderful this experience was for us, and he is excited to begin lessons! We would recommend this school to everyone and anyone!

I purchased a Groupon for my fiancé’s 30^th birthday through this company for a free flight lesson. I emailed the company and called the company’s two different phone numbers ten times leaving multiple voicemails and even getting busy signals at time in an attempt to redeem the Groupon schedule his surprise 30^th birthday present. The company never once contacted me back. I notified Groupon and was thankfully issued a refund since Groupon is an actual company who replies back and follows through. Do not use this flight company unless you want to stress yourself out.

The two people that I dealt with were:
Virgil– owner
Francisco– my instructor.
I chose to come here as my starting point in getting a ppl because after reading their website I was under the impression that I could benefit from the vast military experience they claimed that their instructors had. Instead I quickly learned from my instructor that he had zero air force flying experience, in contradiction to what the description of him on their website mislead me to believe. But the biggest issue for me was how they were trying to milk me for lessons that I didn’t need. They don’t have a curriculum that they give out to students (even though the owner bragged to me as his selling point that he had a strict curriculum) and so basically they just made me do simulator and ground school on days that I was signed up to fly, even when weather permitted. In addition, the airplane that I was signed up for was given to other people with no notice and to my surprise I was rescheduled for a hail damaged plane with malfunctioning fuel gauges (they charge the same amount of $ for it). This frustrated me and I took it up with both my instructor and the owner, but the first was powerless to do anything as the owner turned out to be an ignorant and stubborn old man. The clearer I tried to make my requests to him, the more obvious it became to me that he wasn’t listening and just continued on with his «my way or the highway» rhetoric. They made me do a simulator without any prior notice on a clear day that I was signed up to fly on, even though I had an aircraft booked well in advance. There were other incidents that convinced me that these guys are just here to make the most money off me, not help me learn to fly. With the relatively high amounts that they charge, I expected their customer service, organization and transparency to be better.
The other school is way cheaper and way more laid back with an Austin like atmosphere. If you are reading this and just starting out, take my advice and try there before wasting your money on this place.

Choosing Austin Academy of Aviation to train for my Instrument Rating was a big mistake.
I had obtained my Private Pilot license training with Above and Beyond Aviation also located at Austin Bergstrom Airport. I had been very happy with George and his team of professional instructors and enjoyed flying so much that I decided to pursue an Instrument Rating. The only reason I switched school and went with Austin Academy of Aviation was the Glass Cockpit airplanes that Virgil Kennedy operated. I felt at the time it would be more efficient to train for Instrument Flying with the Garmin 1000.
Unfortunately for me, a good airplane cannot offset an unrespectful person.
My experience with Austin Academy of Aviation has been one of my worst experience. The original instructor assigned to me was not only incompetent, he was also dishonest and was padding his billable hours. I asked to be reassigned to another instructor and requested billing adjustment. My new instructor, Ajit, has proven to be a great guy and has helped me a great deal in building my flying skills.
However, the owner of AAOA, Virgil Kennedy, never addressed my concerns and request for adjustments but instead treated me in a very disrespectful manner, questioning my motivations rather than addressing my legitimate concerns.
Sadly for me (because I have only few hours ahead of me before obtaining my rating), I came to the conclusion that my only course of action was to do what many instructors and chief instructors have done, leave Virgil and add to the high turn over that characterize this sad school of aviation.
My recommendation to anyone reading this review: Stay Clear of AAOA and Fly By as fast as you can.

Flying a plane is the only hobby/​career that I know of where if something goes wrong, you can crash into an apartment building while exploding in flames and killing innocent people.
As a result of the inherent dangers & risks involved with flying, you want to go with the MOST PROFESSIONAL flight school that you can find. So I used the Internet to lookup all of the different flight schools out there in Austin, and I thought I made a good decision by contacting the Austin Academy of Aviation.
However, it turns out that my decision was wrong. Austin Academy of Aviation is unprofessional, as I am still waiting to hear back from them A FULL MONTH after my initial attempt to book a Discovery Flight with them!
My safety & life are too important to potentially throw it all away by dealing with an unprofessional flight school like Austin Academy of Aviation.
This is the chain of events:
On Friday April 6^th, I sent them a message through their website, looking to take a Discovery Flight, which is advertised on the top of their «Discovery Flight» web page for $ 129. This is when the unprofessionalism began:
— Someone named Jeff didn’t get back to me until the night of Tuesday night April 10^th, so they made me wait 4 days for a response to my email.
— The response was nothing more than a form letter about all sorts of things that I didn’t ask about in my initial email to them.
— At the very end of the form letter, the Discovery Flight was mentioned, and the price was inflated by $ 10 more than what was listed on their website on the top of their Discovery Flight form.
— The email said that if I pay them money now, they could put me on the schedule for a Discovery Flight… although there were no instructions on how to pay them now. No Paypal link, secure online page to pay, etc.
I immediately wrote back on Wednesday April 11^th, saying that I am interested in paying for the Discovery Flight, and even gave a suggestion of a possible date that would work for me to take the flight.
— Again, I had to wait 2 full business days for a response from Jeff, which came in after hours on Friday night the 13^th. His response? He doesn’t even have the authority to schedule my flight. He said that he would let the owner Virgil know about my desire to book the Discovery Flight, and that Virgil would get back to me about booking the flight.
Um… okay… so then what are you doing answering emails for Austin Academy of Aviation if you aren’t even able to accept payments nor book people on the schedule? Your job is to solely send out form letters? This just reeks of unprofessionalism and disorganization. He even ended his letter by saying «Let me know if you need anything else.» Um, yes, I need to pay you money and book my Discovery Flight, and you already told me that you can’t do that. So what else could I possibly need from you? Why are you even handling emails for this company?
To add insult to injury, it is now April 24^th, 13 days after my email request to put me on the schedule and 18 days after my initial email. And still, no response from Virgil or anyone else at Austin Academy of Aviation to accept my payment and put me on the schedule.
Ironically, the date that I suggested in my email that would be good for my flight was Saturday April 21^st, which passed 3 days ago. And yet I am still waiting to hear from ANYBODY at Austin Academy of Aviation who can make a decision, take payment, or book people on the schedule.
Update on May 6, 2012: It has now been an ENTIRE MONTH, and I still have not heard back from ANYBODY at Austin Academy of Aviation.
Update on December 24, 2012: It has now been 8 months, and nobody has ever gotten back to me from Austin Academy of Aviation.
Needless to say, I would never give this company my business, as I want to go with a PROFESSIONAL company if I am going to be putting my life & safety at risk.

I rented a 172SP from these guys a few years ago to take my dad for a spin around the skies of Texas. While they don’t normally rent aircraft to visiting pilots, they made an exception for me, and moreover I got bit of helpful radio training from the owner, who has more than 17,000 hours in Cessna 172’s. He’s a terrific guy and has some wonderful tall «Texas tales» about flying. If you are a pilot and find your self in Austin, check these guys out.

Great flight school! Professional and fun instructors and excellent-​condition airplanes make AAoA a fantastic flight school.