Today we’d like to introduce you to Patrick Arnzen.
Hi Patrick, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Since I was a kid I had a pretty narrow view of what my future might look like. I wanted to fly airplanes. Aviation was the only path that ever really made sense to me, but getting there wasn’t simple.
My dad wasn’t a professional pilot, but he loved airplanes and that shaped a lot of my childhood. He shared that passion early, and I started flying in my early teens. I earned my pilot’s license at 17 and became a flight instructor soon after.
Then the industry changed almost overnight. I became an airline pilot right around September 11, and the aviation world went into turmoil. Jobs dried up, the industry was shaken and, like many others, I had to figure out how to stay in the air and still pay the bills. I started a small flight school in southeast Georgia with a few airplanes, some maintenance work and a skydiving operation. It was lean and far from glamorous, but it kept the dream moving forward.
A few years later I saw a chance to build something more durable. I began working with an aircraft importer, started selling airplanes and eventually built a flight school focused on a specific aircraft type. In 2012 I acquired the company and rebuilt it from the ground up. In those early years I was the instructor, the mechanic, the person cleaning the bathrooms, and I did it without taking on debt. It was slow, demanding work, but it was the right foundation.
The company, Thrust Flight, has grown the same way pilots grow: with grit, discipline and a belief in the long game. What started as a one-person operation is now a multi-campus training organization helping people change their lives every day. That journey is still at the center of what Thrust Flight is now and what we’re building next.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely has not been a smooth road, but the hard parts shaped almost everything about how I operate today.
The post-September 11 collapse of the industry was rough. Later, during the 2008 recession, I was furloughed twice while flying for a regional airline, including once on my honeymoon. Those were the years when first-year pilots were earning about $18,000 and living in crash pads, which is far off from the salaries people tend to imagine in aviation.
Some of the toughest challenges had nothing to do with flying itself. I worked outside the industry just to make ends meet and had to rebuild more than once. Each time, I came back to the same lesson: if you want to stay in aviation, you have to be willing to fight for your place in it.
Those experiences ended up shaping the culture at Thrust Flight. We prepare people to step into a demanding career with a real sense of confidence because many of us have lived through the parts of aviation no one advertises. That perspective is what lets us mentor students with honesty, clear expectations and a lot of heart.
As you know, we’re big fans of Thrust Flight. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Thrust Flight is a professional aviation training organization focused on preparing the next generation of airline pilots, aircraft mechanics and dispatchers. Our flagship program, Zero Time to Airline®, takes students from no experience to Certified Flight Instructor in about 10 months and then sets them on a path toward the airlines.
What makes us different is how intentional the entire model is. We offer a full-career aviation pathway. Few organizations train pilots, aircraft mechanics and FAA-certified dispatchers under one brand, and the industry needs all three.
We’ve built a culture of accountability that still feels supportive. The program moves quickly and it asks a lot from students, but it’s immersive. We teach structure, discipline and professionalism, and we pair that with strong mentorship that many students describe as life-changing.
We also invest in tools that help people learn faster. Our fleet is new, air-conditioned and equipped with advanced avionics and autopilot, which is rare in this space. Our in-house learning platform includes video walkthroughs of every flight and ground lesson, giving students a clear edge as they move through training.
The results speak for themselves. Our graduates fly for major and regional airlines across the country, and for many of them aviation becomes the point where their life starts to move in a new direction.
If there’s one thing I want readers to know about our brand, it’s that we don’t aim for the bare minimum. We train professionals. We help people build real careers, real stability and real pride in a craft that asks for excellence.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
What matters most to me is giving people a real chance at a life-changing career in aviation, especially those who have been told it is too expensive, too slow or too risky. I have lived through the lows of this industry, and I have seen how powerful it is when someone finally breaks through.
Building Thrust Flight into a place that delivers real results with honesty and respect for the craft is what keeps me motivated. If we can shorten the timeline, reduce the frustration and produce safer, more confident professionals while treating students as future colleagues instead of customers, then the rest tends to fall into place.
Pricing:
- We keep our pricing transparent and all-inclusive so students know exactly what they are committing to.
- Our Zero Time to Airline® program, which covers everything from private through CFI along with exam fees and housing, is currently in the range of about $94,995 to $109,995 depending on the campus and track.
- Our Aircraft Mechanic, or A&P, program starts at $39,539 with housing options available, and our dispatcher program is $6,495.
- We also partner with lenders, including Sallie Mae, to provide financing options.
- All of these figures are subject to change, so we always point people to thrustflight.com/pricing for the most up-to-date information.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://thrustflight.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thrustflight
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/thrust-flight
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkM9Q2yMZh6ix7TeVy0VH7A
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@thrustflight?lang=en
Image Credits
Photos can be attributed to Thrust Flight.
