From Student to Airline Pilot
Here is the reason to train at BVFS: you can go from your very first lesson to the flight deck of an airliner without ever changing schools. Earn every certificate here, get hired to instruct on our own flight line, and follow our alumni straight to the airlines.
Your Career Starts Here
From Zero Experience to the Flight Deck
Brazos Valley Flight Services is determined to help you meet your goals of becoming a professional pilot. Our services meet and exceed every training need to take you from Student Pilot to Airline Transport Pilot (ATP) and beyond.
And this path works — we watch it happen every year. A good chunk of our flight instructors, many of whom earned every certificate at BVFS, have taken the next step to regional airlines, then on to the majors, or into outstanding private and corporate flying jobs.
- Train through CFI entirely at BVFS
- Build paid hours instructing toward your 1,500-hour ATP minimum
- Mentorship from instructors who’ve made it — including a current United Airlines 737 First Officer on our team
The Pipeline Is Real
From Our Flight Line to the Flight Deck
These aren’t hypotheticals — they’re BVFS pilots. Students who earned every certificate here now teach on our own flight line, and our instructor alumni are flying passenger jets for the airlines today. Same runway, same instructors, same pathway — this is where it leads.
+ corporate & private operators+ corporate & private operators100+
First solos launched from our flight line
88%
First-time checkride pass rate — national average is about 75%
1,500
Hours to airline minimums — our CFIs are paid to build every one
$300k+
Where the path tops out — senior captains at the majors
Trained Here · Now Teaching Here
Brandon Bullard
Earned his Private, Instrument, and Commercial at BVFS — now an Assistant Chief Instructor guiding the next generation on the same flight line.
Westin Unger
Completed every certificate at BVFS and now instructs here while building toward his airline goal — the pathway starts paying before you even leave.
Austen Christensen
From first lesson to Certified Flight Instructor without leaving Easterwood — Austen now teaches the same program he trained in.
BVFS Pilots at the Airlines
Clayton Olive
Flies: Embraer E175 / CRJ family
The largest regional airline in North America — and a launchpad to every major carrier.
Why this path works
SkyWest flies for all four major U.S. network carriers, so pilots build jet time with maximum flexibility on where they go next. Ask us how BVFS training maps to their hiring minimums.
Jacob Alleweireldt
Flies: Bombardier CRJ-900
Trained at BVFS, now flying as Delta Connection.
Why this path works
Endeavor Air is wholly owned by Delta Air Lines and offers a defined flow to a Delta flight deck — a seniority-based path to a major with no new interview. Your BVFS hours start that clock.
Cash Deason
Flies: Embraer E170/E175
From instructing Cessnas at Easterwood to an Embraer flight deck.
Why this path works
Cash built his hours instructing at BVFS — the exact route Envoy recruits from. Flow-through to American means the path continues automatically.
George Attalla
Flies: Bombardier CRJ-700/900
A wholly owned American Airlines subsidiary with a defined path to the majors.
Why this path works
PSA offers an uninterrupted American Airlines career track — regional captain upgrades come fast, and the flow to mainline follows seniority.
TJ Varvaro
Flies: Embraer ERJ-145
Flying United Express with a defined career path to United Airlines.
Why this path works
Through United Aviate, CommutAir pilots have a published, guaranteed pathway to a United Airlines flight deck. It starts with hours built at schools like BVFS.
Tommy Fordiani
Flies: Embraer E175 / CRJ family
Completed every certificate at BVFS — all of his training on our flight line — before joining North America’s largest regional airline.
Why this path works
SkyWest flies for all four major U.S. network carriers, so pilots build jet time with maximum flexibility on where they go next. Ask us how BVFS training maps to their hiring minimums.
Aianne Bernal
Flies: Embraer E170/E175
Did all of her training at BVFS, then went straight from our flight line to an Embraer flight deck.
Why this path works
Envoy pilots receive a direct flow-through to American Airlines — a seniority-based path to the majors with no new interview. Your BVFS hours start that clock.
Zach LaRue
Flies: Embraer E170/E175
Another BVFS-trained pilot now on an Embraer flight deck with Envoy.
Why this path works
Envoy pilots receive a direct flow-through to American Airlines — a seniority-based path to the majors with no new interview. Your BVFS hours start that clock.
Your Name Here
The next BVFS pilot on an airline flight deck could be you — and this wall is waiting for your photo.
Take the First StepAnd Many More in the Air
Beyond these five, BVFS-trained pilots are flying for regional and major airlines, corporate flight departments, and private operators across the country. Every one of them started with a first lesson at Easterwood.
Brazos Valley Flight Services is an independent flight school and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any of the airlines shown here. These are former BVFS students and instructors who built their own way to these carriers.
Are you a BVFS alum flying professionally? Call 979-260-6322 — we’d love to add you to this wall.
A Career Worth Chasing
What Professional Pilots Earn Today
Pilot pay is at historic highs. Based on current industry reporting (2026), here is what the career ladder looks like — and it starts with your first lesson at BVFS.
Certified Flight Instructor
Regional Airline First Officer
Major Airline First Officer
Major Airline Captain
The BVFS Pipeline Is Real
This isn’t theory — it’s what happens here. A good chunk of our CFIs, many of whom earned every certificate at BVFS, have taken that next step to regional airlines, then the majors, or outstanding private and corporate flying jobs. One of our current instructors flies the Boeing 737 for United Airlines.
Why Now Is the Time
Airlines continue hiring as a generation of pilots reaches mandatory retirement. From first lesson to flight instructor typically takes 1–2 years; instructing to 1,500 hours takes 1–2 more. Figures above are drawn from industry reporting and vary by airline, fleet, and seniority.
The Pathway
Six Steps to the Airlines
Private Pilot
The foundation. Fly most single-engine aircraft, go virtually anywhere, and reach practically any public-use airport in the country under Visual Flight Rules. Everything that follows builds on the skills you master here.
Instrument Rating Add-On
Fly the “highways of the sky” under Instrument Flight Rules. When ceilings are too low for VFR flight, the instrument rating keeps you flying safely and legally — an absolute requirement for any professional career.
Commercial Pilot
Fly for hire: aerial photography, charter (14 CFR Part 135), repositioning, banner towing, pipeline inspection, and more. This certificate makes you a master of the aircraft and is the prerequisite for CFI and ATP.
Multi-Engine Add-On
To fly airplanes with more than one engine, a Multi-Engine Rating is required. Since most airline aircraft are multi-engine, this rating is crucial to reaching the final step of an airline career.
Certified Flight Instructor
Teach others to fly while building hours — the tried-and-true method to reach ATP minimums while sharpening your skills and getting paid. Earn your CFI, CFI-I, AGI, and IGI at BVFS. This is where the spending stops and the earning begins.
Airline / Professional Pilot
Upon reaching the required ATP hours (1,500), pilots are eligible to apply to Regional Airlines and other professional pilot careers. Congratulations — your hard work pays off for the rest of your career. Just ask our alumni flying for the regionals, the majors, and private operators today.
Are You Ready to Fly?
Schedule Your First Flight Today
Call 979-260-6322 — open every day, including weekends — or book your introductory flight online right now.
