Checkrides cost how much? Really?

How much did your last flight test cost?

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imwithtuxedo said:
I also had a multi-month wait for my PPL. Spoke with three different DPEs in Oklahoma and couldn't get them to even give me a date or date range for my exam. I even had my CFI call. They literally wouldn't call me back with a date, give me timeframe of when their schedule would be more open, and when I got a response from 1 of the 3 it was "July" when I was asking in early May.... Finally got fed up and starting calling DPEs is neighboring states and found a great DPE in Arkansas which required a 2hr cross-country flight to my exam but he got me scheduled within one week of our first phone call and I passed. I'll probably just call him for my IFR and not bother with the Oklahoma DPEs.
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Yet the FAA receives very few complaints.

Nothing will change unless people submit complaints.
 
Doc Holliday said:
Not sure what the various cost have to do with it............
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What I was wondering is if the high amounts being charged are a ‘return on investment’ thing. If I spent mega bucks getting certified to provide a product or service, the cost of that product/service will reflect that.
 
luvflyin said:
What I was wondering is if the high amounts being charged are a ‘return on investment’ thing. If I spent mega bucks getting certified to provide a product or service, the cost of that product/service will reflect that.
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The amounts being charged are based upon what the market will bear.

And it’s a captured market.
 
luvflyin said:
What I was wondering is if the high amounts being charged are a ‘return on investment’ thing. If I spent mega bucks getting certified to provide a product or service, the cost of that product/service will reflect that.
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I know a couple guys who do it. As has been mentioned, the pricing is a combination of what the examiner’s time is worth to them and what the market will bear.

But, both the guys I know will tell you that the hassle of being an examiner is almost not worth the effort so there may be a cost factored in for the time and money they have invested in being a DPE as well.
 
I hate to sound contradictory, but looking back, I didn't care how much each flight test cost...

I was going to pay it no matter what, just to get it over with... :D
 
My private cost me $75, instrument and commercial were $120. This was between 1994 and 1996.
 
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imwithtuxedo said:
I also had a multi-month wait for my PPL. Spoke with three different DPEs in Oklahoma and couldn't get them to even give me a date or date range for my exam. I even had my CFI call. They literally wouldn't call me back with a date, give me timeframe of when their schedule would be more open, and when I got a response from 1 of the 3 it was "July" when I was asking in early May.... Finally got fed up and starting calling DPEs is neighboring states and found a great DPE in Arkansas which required a 2hr cross-country flight to my exam but he got me scheduled within one week of our first phone call and I passed. I'll probably just call him for my IFR and not bother with the Oklahoma DPEs.
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Yes - DPEs are hard to schedule in Oklahoma. This is really just in the last 2 or 3 years though, before that scheduling was "normal". This is a direct result of the pilot hiring boom and not enough DPEs. I have taken to scheduling checkrides months before the applicant is even ready. I have some Commercial applicants coming up this fall, I will probably try to schedule them even before we start flying (since the Comm is a pretty quick rating).
 
I spent $350 for my private in 2004. I had to retest which cost another $175. I'm gettin ready to schedule my IR so I'll see what that costs.
 
It's not a lack of pilots that have the experience to be good DPEs; it's the unwillingness of FSDOs to appoint more DPEs because they claim they lack the manpower needed to monitor more DPEs. Unless we are vocal in our displeasure at having to wait an inordinate amount of time to schedule a checkride or pay fees that are increasing at many times the rate of inflation, FSDOs will ignore the problem.
 
Witmo said:
It's not a lack of pilots that have the experience to be good DPEs; it's the unwillingness of FSDOs to appoint more DPEs because they claim they lack the manpower needed to monitor more DPEs. Unless we are vocal in our displeasure at having to wait an inordinate amount of time to schedule a checkride or pay fees that are increasing at many times the rate of inflation, FSDOs will ignore the problem.
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This is why there is a complaint system. People must lodge complaints in order for it to be addressed. FSDO's are accountable to FAA HQ. If the problem is lack of inspectors in the field, then the FAA has the information to send up to the SDOT who in turn request the hiring of more personnel.

It has to start somewhere.
 
Doc Holliday said:
This is why there is a complaint system. People must lodge complaints in order for it to be addressed. FSDO's are accountable to FAA HQ. If the problem is lack of inspectors in the field, then the FAA has the information to send up to the SDOT who in turn request the hiring of more personnel.

It has to start somewhere.
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Unfortunately where it has to start is with instructors who probably don’t care because they’ll be flying shiny jets before the change is made.
 
MauleSkinner said:
Unfortunately where it has to start is with instructors who probably don’t care because they’ll be flying shiny jets before the change is made.
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Don't disagree. Also, applicants get ****ed off waiting, but once the check is complete, they're happy and never follow through with a complaint.
 
Around SoCal, scheduling a checkride in a reasonable amount of time can be a total PITA. A buddy of mine blew through his 60 days on the discontinuance for his instrument because the DPE he used wouldn't do it in actual conditions and his schedule is blocked out. I paid $700 for my instrument checkride in June and luckily he did it in actual. The inflated prices are outrageous and sounds like nothing less than an arbitrary restriction of supply.
 
Cici said:
Denver area.

Private may 2018 = $600
IRA dec 2018 = $600
Comm july 2019 = $800
Cfi oct 2019 will be $1200
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Looks like the upper ratings went up a little from mine two years ago. Both the initial and add on CFIs were still under $1000.

Supply, demand, and a ridiculous cost of living in this town drove it up quick. Turning into California.
 
luvflyin said:
But I’m not for price gouging. Doubling, tripling the cost of goods during disasters.
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You simply don't understand the laws of supply and demand, then. The only people who use the term "price gouging" are people who don't understand supply and demand.
 
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birdus said:
You simply don't understand the laws of supply and demand, then. The only people who use the term "price gouging" are people who don't understand supply and demand.
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Other people who don't understand supply and demand....members of pilot unions. Or those who don't understand that for there to be "supply and demand" there can't be forces which impact the system. The system must be free to react to changes, which the DPE market isnt.

I get it, these guys are doing the pilot community a favor by merely existing and pulling in $2400/day. Barf. I think i could figure out a way to deal with the "stress"...it would start with a scrooge mcduck backflip into my money every morning (note the QOL at home every night unicorn job).
 
Cici said:
I get it, these guys are doing the pilot community a favor by merely existing and pulling in $2400/day.
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Not sure how they’d do that since the FAA put the brakes on doing more than one advanced rating flight per day, and most don’t charge as much for lower ratings.

But it’s a nice delusion you have going there. :)

Can you tell us on the doll where the DPE hurt you? Hahaha.
 
Cici said:
Other people who don't understand supply and demand....members of pilot unions. Or those who don't understand that for there to be "supply and demand" there can't be forces which impact the system. The system must be free to react to changes, which the DPE market isnt.

I get it, these guys are doing the pilot community a favor by merely existing and pulling in $2400/day. Barf. I think i could figure out a way to deal with the "stress"...it would start with a scrooge mcduck backflip into my money every morning (note the QOL at home every night unicorn job).
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Don't infer anything from my comment that I wasn't saying. We hardly have a free market in the United States. There is massive government interference. No doubt about it. All I was talking about was economics, not what DPEs charge or how the government may impact their scarcity, and therefore their cost.
 
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Cici said:
I get it, these guys are doing the pilot community a favor by merely existing and pulling in $2400/day. Barf.
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I think the $1200 CFI is because it’ll likely take most or all of the day to accomplish. A DPE won’t have the time to do two.
 
3 non advanced checkrides per day. 3x$800 is $2400.

Technically they could do an "advanced" and 2 "easy" rides for $1200 + $1600.

I know most are just doing us a favor though....

This isnt to say i think they're bad people. In fact, I've had poistive experiences with all of them. But we can drop the "hardly worth it" and "stressful" routine.
 
I didn’t think you could do three per day?
 
Cici said:
3 non advanced checkrides per day. 3x$800 is $2400.

Technically they could do an "advanced" and 2 "easy" rides for $1200 + $1600.

I know most are just doing us a favor though....

This isnt to say i think they're bad people. In fact, I've had poistive experiences with all of them. But we can drop the "hardly worth it" and "stressful" routine.
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See Above. Limited to two a day. And the FAA doesn't categorize checks as "easy" or "non-advanced" vs "advanced".
 
Cici said:
Other people who don't understand supply and demand....members of pilot unions. Or those who don't understand that for there to be "supply and demand" there can't be forces which impact the system. The system must be free to react to changes, which the DPE market isnt.

I get it, these guys are doing the pilot community a favor by merely existing and pulling in $2400/day. Barf. I think i could figure out a way to deal with the "stress"...it would start with a scrooge mcduck backflip into my money every morning (note the QOL at home every night unicorn job).
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So you believe a DPE position is easy money? Go talk to a DPE and inquire about just how easy they have it, especially a high activity DPE.
 
Doc Holliday said:
So you believe a DPE position is easy money? Go talk to a DPE and inquire about just how easy they have it, especially a high activity DPE.
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Certainly not easy money. Lots of travel, paperwork, and having to fly with people you don't know and don't trust.

It ain't poverty wages though and many check rides last under 4 hours. DPE around here did two rides on the day of my CPL and his schedule is booked up. He owns two airplanes and obviously is making good money.
 
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Doc Holliday said:
So you believe a DPE position is easy money? Go talk to a DPE and inquire about just how easy they have it, especially a high activity DPE.
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I didn't say that. I'm saying it's REALLY good money. Every job has it nuances, stresses and difficulties. But you'll have to excuse me if I'm not able to empathize or sympathize with how hard it is.
 
birdus said:
You simply don't understand the laws of supply and demand, then. The only people who use the term "price gouging" are people who don't understand supply and demand.
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??? Supply and demand is inherit in the term “price gouging.”
 
Two per day is more than enough for me, but the "new" (October of 2018) three-per-day guidance helps PPEs giving 61.58s; they can easily do three of those per day in most cases.

I could imagine doing an initial, an add-on and a retest (a short one) in one day, perhaps, but that's more than I'd like to do unless it was absolutely necessary.

From my perspective, the ability to conduct an unlimited number of retests in a day is the biggest benefit of the new guidance, as I can schedule multiple retests for one day and knock them all out at once. It allows for greater efficiency.
 
dang it, that would have been spicier on a white cat meme. #missedopportunity
Ah eff it, I'll take the hit on joke stealing for this one.
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:biggrin:
 
250 in 2005 Connecticut for PPl

I think 350-400 each for IR/CPL/ME add on NorCal in 2007-2008 but my memory fails.

And 500 each for all three CFI-A tickets in NV
 
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