The owners was very nice the first day before I signed up. After I signed up, it was like his…read moreattitude was on a light switch. He was incredibly rude and had no time to talk to me. I showed up on time for my first appointment and sat there for a half hour without interaction. When I got up and asked nicely what was taking so long, the lady behind the desk had a huge attitude problem. She was high up in the employee chain as well. The instructor they set me up with was 22 and just graduated from Lewis. I asked him how to move the rudders closer and he had to look it up on his iPhone. After my first lesson I was worried to go back. So I switched to api and was so grateful to find an experienced instructor. Jw aviation is going down hill. Do your self a favor and avoid them. Don't ruin your experience!

I would like to post to let everyone know about the Shady Business Practices of this JW AVIATION…read moreflight school. I have been researching flight schools in the Chicago land area for my CFI license. This is the only school that charges you for the full scheduled 2 hours of dual instructor time. The other 8 schools charges actual Hobbs time or add up to a minimal .3 , so if you fly for 1 hour, you are still paying for 2 hours instructor dual time. Over time this adds up. 50 hours of logged time will cost you an extra 25 hours of dual time at $60 per hour, that equals $1500 of time you paid for no dual instruction. Most of the students are college age with minimal income.. THIS IS SHADY and stealing out of their or their parents pockets...

Dave is one of the best instructor in the country. He has such a calmness to his tone of voice and…read moreinstructions during the training. Without Dave, we wouldn't have gotten our licenses. We purchased LSA before the training and he didn't even hesitate to instruct us in a different aircraft. If anyone is planning to get their license near Chicago area, this place is a must. Also, if you just want to see / feel how flight instruction is like, then take their introductory flight and/or flight tour of down town Chicago! I would highly suggest to take their introductory flight during the holiday season! Simply fly is simply awesome!

Fantastic airplane and the introductory flight was amazing! Made me feel very welcome and got some…read moregreat information. I would highly recommend giving simply fly a chance. It's my top pick.

At 4pm, Friday, October 17, 2025 on the 103rd birthday of my grandfather Morris Swartz, flight…read moreinstructor Katy of K2 Aviation, LLC and I took off in the Cessna 150, N101FA from Campbell Airport in Grayslake, Illinois. A truly sentimental place as the airport is located right behind my grandparents' home. I am forever grateful to Katy and her husband Kurt for this most special of my lifetime events. There is no better flight instructor than Katy Crihfield. We thank Katy for her service as a Naval pilot. In addition to flight instruction, she is also a master teacher of physics. It was so great to also meet Katy's two dogs, Olivia and Fiona, as we are all animal lovers too! This marks the beginning of learning with K2 Aviation, LLC and to many more safe and wonderful flights! A special video presentation will be aired in the coming days. I hope you will all enjoy the flight! Thank you Katy and Kurt! ~ Kyle O'Malley

From the owner: K2 Aviation was founded in 2024 with the aim of providing quality flight instruction in small…read moresingle-engine aircraft. Students who learn stick-and-rudder flying in the smallest, simplest airplanes with just steam gauges can later advance to fly any aircraft in the world. We believe in starting with fundamental airmanship skills before working up to a glass cockpit, multi-engine, or jets should that be your goal.

I was looking for that perfect birthday gift for a friend. You know the one, where everyone…read morewonders, "Why didn't I think of that?". So after considering all the options for this special guy (everything from sports memorabilia to electronics) I finally decided on a gift that would put his head in the clouds. That's right! Airplane rental! Now, of course, it helped that he is a licensed pilot so that part was taken care of. But I had to find an airport and someplace that would rent him a plane- and the kind of plane that he knows how to fly. Enter Illinois Aviation Academy. They are located out at the Du Page airport and rent about 6 different types of airplanes, from Arrow to Cesna, Piper to Diamond. Since an Arrow was what I was looking for, my search was over. And the even better news is that they have licensed instructors that will do the pre-flight approval. Prices are in line with other places with the Arrow going for $165 an hour (wet) with the pre flight coming in at around $65. It was also nice to see it was a new plane (2004). This is a well run place with the school located at one end of the hanger, and for the more experienced pilots, the lounge and preflight room are like being in a nice club somewhere. And the lucky part? My friend wanted to take me with him when he went flying and so we were off for a picnic lunch in another state soaring over the lakes and trees. And all I could do was marvel that you can rent a plane almost as simply as you can rent a car. Talk about a perfect day! Not for everyone- but if you are looking to rent a plane- give Illinois Aviation Academy a call. And your head can be in the clouds too!

My son received his Private Pilot License from Illinois Aviation Academy in only 2 months in 2019…read more The school worked so hard to make sure he accomplished this goal while providing awesome support, knowledge and care. About 2 years after achieving his private pilot license my son was training at a Part 141 flight school in Long Island, New York and unfortunately we found out they were not training him properly for his instrument rating. This was very stressful because my son only had to complete his end of course to finish with this school. We had to make a decision to leave the New York school because they were not getting the job done. After some praying and thinking we decided to go back where my son started so we called the owner Robert at Illinois Aviation and explained the New York situation and asked if they could help my son complete his instrument rating end of course. They immediately came up with a plan to get my son completed in two weeks under Part 141. I knew this was going to be a little challenge because my son could only transfer a certain amount of his credits to Illinois Aviation, however the owner, the chief pilot and instructors were ready to get the job done. They started training my son from the moment he arrived off his plane from New York in June 2021. They had an awesome plan that worked so well my son was able to get his Instrument Rating in 9 days!! My son came back home with so much more confidence in himself because of their training and support and I can't thank them enough!! What is priceless to me besides the training is the support, the people and the care they provide because good support is definitely needed during training. Thank you Illinois Aviation for all that you do! I only wish you could duplicate your school around the country. If you are considering a flight school even if you are not living in Illinois it is so worth having your training completed there. Wish you all the best with your training!!

Had a fun, exciting private flight around Chicago for my fiancé's birthday. Mo was super friendly…read moreand accommodating and we felt very safe. Thanks Mo!

We (two passengers) went in a 6-seater plane ride over scenic downtown Chicago! We had a great…read moreexperience and felt very safe throughout the ride! Pilot was experienced and provided great information throughout. We would highly recommend, even for those who may be a little nervous/apprehensive beforehand.

WAir offers flight instruction in both G-1000 glass cockpit and more traditional C172 aircraft,…read moreboth of which are of recent vintage. It has a brand new Redbird full-motion simulator for instrument training. It has a full hangar right outside its offices, for maintancen and for not freezing your butt off in the winter months during pre-flight. And it has first-rate flight instruction and maintenance staffs, couches, offices for debriefings, and an app for scheduling. This is the place to train and maintain!!

So glad we found WAir. Our instructor Dave was very professional. My son had a great time and…read morelearned a lot. Thank you again WAir!

They closed suddenly within the last year or so. I had paid for a discovery flight which they…read morerescheduled several times due to bad weather, and when I called back to reschedule once again, no one answered. I learned Dean Ellis shut down operations abruptly and I can't get a refund.Apparently Dean also owes his former employees money but he disappeared. I tried contacting multiple people to get a refund but they were unable to help. What a shitty thing to do.

I was interested in Sim lessons. I've been flying for 20 yrs. and wanted to transition to glass…read more I wrote them an e-mail on Sunday to which they responded, answering my initial questions. I called on Mon. to schedule a lesson and was told Liz would call me back. I didn't hear from Liz so I wrote an e-mail on Thurs to which they did not respond. On Friday, I tried again - - no response. I'm disappointed in the poor customer experience but incredulous at the poor business sense. I'll take my business elsewhere. You blew it.

I enjoyed my experience at Chicago O'Hare! There were many food options, everything was well kept,…read moreand they even had a cool light tunnel. Overall a really good experience!

Awesome people! I did my PPL here and this is a great place to learn how to fly. In my experience…read morehere all of the instructors have been nice and knowledgeable! Instructors, dispatch and everyone else has been amazing! (Especially Adam, Amy, and Natalie) I fully recommend Blue Skies!

Well maintained fleet of airplanes ! Marlon is a great teacher ! Easy to schedule and easy to work…read morewith !

This review is based on a single lesson only as I was visiting from out of town…read more On my journey to get my PPL, I was in Chicago for a work trip and reached out to Boraam Aviation and took a lesson with Marlon, their Chief Flight Instructor. He was thorough in looking through my log book to see what gaps I had in my knowledge toward my license and we decided on a plan to do some instrument practice (along with unusual attitudes). Marlon was very up front and methodical in our lesson. He was very comfortable to fly with and had some great suggestions on maintaining airspeed, heading, steady climbs and descents in IMC. He also gave me some fantastic training in unusual attitudes and gave me a suggestion to focus on the airspeed indicator more so than the attitude indicator in order to determine the best way to recover from unusual attitudes. This was very helpful and I'm glad we went through this in our training. After our lesson, I felt a lot more confident in different maneuvers for the check ride and flying in simulated instrument conditions. This flight school's rental rates are quite a bit lower than any of the surrounding competition (including the flying club at Chicago Executive) and I'm quite sure they have the best prices for aircraft rental. Huge plus. I would highly suggest it! My only gripe and the reason for the 4-star review is that I would have appreciated a little more time in debriefing after the lesson and Marlon really asking questions to re-enforce that I understood what I learned. I had a little confusion with navigating VOR-from ATC commands and although he spent a bit of time explaining it, I would have appreciated him asking more questions to test my knowledge and ensure that I understood everything. The end of the lesson felt a little rushed as I didn't know when his appointment with his next student was (and she was waiting for him while we were debriefing). Other than that, everything was perfect and I would wholeheartedly recommend Boraam Aviation to anyone seeking various flying ratings.

I did my initial training with API back in 2007 and have worked with them on my instrument rating…read moreas well. The head of the flight school, Bill has been working in the aviation business, teaching people to fly for the past 30 years (maybe more, I would have to ask him). They have developed their lesson plans over this time period and he has a very specific way he has instructors teach you how to fly. This way you not only get a method that works (at least for me it did) but you get consistency across students and instructors. The great thing is Bill really looks after his students and tries to make their flights productive. I love the fact that when I show up for a winter flight around 8am, I usually find they were out at the airplanes with a propane heater in the cold heating up the engine for me so I could spend more time flying and less time getting ready. Before I had a car, I would take the orange line to midway and bill or an instructor would pick me up from the train station for my flights and take me back when I was done. The office feels very comfortable and I have spent hours there just talking (hanger flying) with Bill, his instructors, and anyone who walks in the door. Anyone who has questions about my experience with aviation professionals is free to PM me but I would recommend giving them a call and they will answer any questions you have.

Bill was extremely friendly and helpful from the first time that I scheduled the FAA 107 exam until…read moreI walked out today with a passing grade. He seems to really care about people who are taking the exam and he wants everyone to do well. He walked me step by step on what the next steps were and adequately answered all of my questions. A huge bonus is that he's open 7 days a week which is very accommodating to business professionals. I appreciate his efforts and would recommend him to anyone considering doing business with API.