Why Fly With Pekowski Flight, an Independent DFW Flight School

Pekowski Flight offers what big flight schools can't: a CFI that invests in your growth, not one that's there to build time. We started Pekowski Flight because we believe the relationship between an instructor and a student matters. We don't rely on a high volume of students to run our business, instead, we value quality of instruction, personal connection, and putting our students first.

The Difference

Pekowski Flight is independent flight instruction built on a Part 61 model. Part 61 and Part 141 flight schools operate on different rules, with different graduating requirements and very different ways of teaching. There are smaller Part 61 flight schools, but all independent instructors operate on Part 61 rules as well.

We believe the instructor-student relationship matters more than almost anything else. You need someone who knows your strengths and weaknesses, cares about your growth, and prioritizes you. You can have all of that at Pekowski Flight.

Part 61 Independent Instruction

Never change instructors
Intentionally take our time with your instruction to maximize your potential
Training tailored to each individual student, their learning styles and goals
Flexible scheduling built entirely around you
High focus on your growth, little focus on student turnover

Part 61 School

Rarely change instructors
Students can get lost in the system, training can be drawn out longer than necessary, costing more
Training tailored to the general public
Focus on filling their schedule, not very flexible
More focused on making profit than your growth

Part 141 School

Rotating flight instructors, rarely fly with the same one
Try to get you out of the program as fast as possible
Training tailored to get you out of the program as fast as possible
Focus on filling the schedule to maximize profit, not prioritizing the students
Little focus on your growth, extreme focus on student turnover

There are 3 kinds of instructors in flight instruction. Time Builders, Experienced Time Builders, and Instructors. You can only learn from two of them.
— Unknown

'The best instructor I've ever had was there because he loved to share his passion for flying, not just to build time to get to the airlines. My goal is to be like him, a real teacher.'
— Reid Pekowski, Founder & Flight Instructor at Pekowski Flight

Three Reasons Students Choose Us

What Training Looks Like at Our Part 61 Flight School

The specific, structural decisions that make training with an independent CFI different from training with a franchise.

The same instructor, every single flight

At a multi-instructor school, your CFI can change from lesson to lesson based on who's on the schedule. Every time that happens, you lose ground re-explaining what you've already covered and rebuilding rapport from scratch. At Pekowski Flight, your instructor doesn't rotate. The person who flies your discovery flight is the same person who signs you off for your checkride — which means lessons build on each other instead of starting over.

Intense Care Only We Can Offer

Other schools simply can't offer the level of attention and care that we offer towards every student, every lesson. We are invested in your growth from the very beginning, with training plans and scheduling customized to you. Your instructor knows exactly what you excel at and what you struggle with. It's not possible to get this level of care at a school that has to manage a huge fleet and rotating instructors, all while focused on graduating students at the minimum hour requirement. That's why at Pekowski Flight, you will always get elite instruction with intense care.

Scheduling built around your life, not a fleet

A franchise has to divide a shared fleet across dozens of students, which means booking around whatever slot is left. With one instructor and one aircraft, scheduling is a conversation, not a queue — early mornings, evenings, or weekends, built around whatever your job or your life actually allows.

Your Instructor

Reid Pekowski

For Reid Pekowski, becoming a flight instructor was never just about building hours on the way to the airlines. It was about creating the kind of flight training experience he wished he had received himself.

Reid began his aviation journey through a Part 141 flight program, but his experience left him frustrated with the way students were treated. Instructors were constantly rotating, making it difficult to build a relationship with the person responsible for his training. His schedule often seemed to come second to the school's priorities, sometimes requiring him to fly at 3 or 4 a.m. so the school could maximize their profits. By the time he finished his training, Reid felt that his school never truly invested in him as a student and future pilot.

That experience became the motivation behind Pekowski Flight, a Part 61 flight school built around a simple idea: flight training should be about the student.

Reid's mission is to be an instructor who genuinely cares about his students' growth. He believes great flight training is built on trust, consistency, mentorship, and a shared passion for aviation. Rather than treating instruction as a stepping stone toward his own career, Reid sees every lesson as an opportunity to share his love of flying and help another pilot become more confident, capable, and prepared.

At Pekowski Flight, your instructor stays with you every step of the way. You won't be passed from instructor to instructor or treated like another name on a schedule. Your training is led by someone who is personally invested in helping you succeed. Because to Reid, being a flight instructor means more than teaching someone how to fly. It means being a friend, mentor, and top-tier teacher, throughout the journey.

1:1Instructor to Student

Part 61Certification Path

DFWBased & Flying