Community
Knoxville Flyers
Knoxville (Downtown Island)
Not found
Educational only. Confirm this with your CFI (certified flight instructor), an AME (aviation medical examiner), and each program. We are not the FAA, a flight school, or an airline. Full disclaimer

State guide · Tennessee
Schools, clubs, and instructors. Educational only. Confirm each step with your CFI.
This is general educational information, not financial, tax, or legal advice. Grease the Journey does not endorse or broker loans. Rates, terms, and benefit rules come from the lender, the school, or the VA, and they can change. Consult the lender, the VA, or a licensed financial professional before you borrow or use benefits. Nothing here promises earnings, a job offer, or any other outcome.
Never rush a badge. Fly only what you're trained and ready for, and plan it with your instructor. Safety first. Last checked October 2026.
MTSU is Tennessee's only R-ATP school, with about $71.8k in required flight-lab deposits.
Flying clubs
5 listed in this file.
Flight schools
4 rows in this file.
Airline base
Southwest · BNA

Community
Knoxville (Downtown Island)
Not found
Community
Oliver Springs (Braden Field)
C150 $85, C172 $130, Tiger $160 per hr wet
Community
Nashville (John C. Tune)
SR20 $135, SR22 $175 per hr dry
Community
Chattanooga
Not found
Never affected by sponsorship. Free flying club listings and the A–Z school list are never reordered or affected by sponsors.
Flying clubs are member-run groups that share the cost of aircraft. Because there's no profit markup, hourly rates are often lower than at a flight school, which makes a club one of the cheapest ways to build hours after your private certificate. You also get a community: mentors, safety pilots, fly-outs, and people who know the local examiners and instructors. The trade-offs are monthly dues, a buy-in or initiation fee at many clubs, waitlists, and the fact that not every club offers instruction or accepts student pilots. Rates move with fuel prices, so confirm current costs with the club before you join.
Clubs last checked 2026-10. The file counts 5: 4 community, 1 military, 0 university, 0 school-run. Data quality in the file: partial.
Showing 5 of 5. Clubs without a published hourly rate stay at the bottom of the rate sort.
Near Oak Ridge and West Knoxville.
Navy directory listing; confirm status.
Never affected by sponsorship. Free flying club listings and the A–Z school list are never reordered or affected by sponsors.
Middle Tennessee State University
Murfreesboro · $71,762
University of Memphis
Memphis · Ask the school
ATP Flight School
Nashville–Smyrna (MQY) · $123,995
Luke Weathers Flight Academy
Memphis · Ask the school
B.S. Aerospace – Professional Pilot
Scope: deposits, not final costs; checkrides extra
Source year: 2026–27 (guide dated 7/29/2026)
Commercial aviation program
Scope: fixed tuition; ~$10.5k–$12k exam fees and up to $5k location premium extra
Source year: 2026
One of only four Propel flight-school affiliates nationally
Delta Air Lines
Open
JetBlue
Open
Envoy Air (American)
Rolling
Data quality in the file: partial. MTSU is Tennessee's only R-ATP school, with about $71.8k in required flight-lab deposits. Memphis is FedEx's home (the Purple Runway pathway) and has a Delta Propel affiliate academy, Luke Weathers. Nashville is a Southwest pilot base.
Scholarship
Scholarship
State grant
Federal program in this state
Southwest · BNA
pilot base
FedEx Express · Memphis (HQ)
headquarters
Contour Airlines · Smyrna
headquarters
FedEx Purple Runway feeders (Mountain Air Cargo, IFL, Empire, Corporate Air) · Memphis-linked
recruiting pathway Mainline: FedEx.
Unusual
ATP lists its 'Memphis' center under Tennessee, but Olive Branch Airport (OLV) is in Mississippi.
Unusual
Tennessee State University's $500k FAA grant funds aviation maintenance scholarships, not pilot training.
Data gap
No Tennessee state pilot grant was found. University of Memphis program status and cost weren't checked.
Not foundDesignated pilot examiners. The locator is the list. This page does not copy names.
Aviation medical examiners. The locator is the list. This page does not copy names.
MTSU is Tennessee's only R-ATP school, with about $71.8k in required flight-lab deposits. Last checked 2026-10. Confirm it with a CFI and each school.
The file lists 4 schools. Names are in Flight Schools on this page.
Published costs are on each school row. Prices can change. Check the school for the current figure.
Never rush a badge. Fly only what you're trained and ready for, and plan it with your instructor. Safety first.
Instructor listings · $4.99/mo or $49/yr
Featured pins are paid. Listings under them are not ranked by hours or sign-offs.
No paid instructor listings in this state yet. List yourself.
Sponsored listings are paid placements and are not endorsements.
Although we continually check for updates, prices can change at any time. Check with each company for exact pricing.
Never rush a badge. Fly only what you're trained and ready for, and plan it with your instructor. Safety first.
Pilot Stats are a personal snapshot for motivation only. This is NOT a logbook and cannot be used as one. Always keep your official logbook (paper or electronic) as required by FAA 14 CFR 61.51; it is the only valid record of your flight time.
Listings are not endorsements.