Thrust Flight

Thrust Flight, founded as a partner of US Sport Aircraft in 2006,^[1] is a flight school with its main campus at the Addison Airport near Dallas, two satellite locations in Texas (North Texas Regional Airport^[2] and Conroe-North Houston Regional Airport), and one location in Arizona (at Falcon Field airport.^[3][4] The aviation training school features a program that aims to get students working with commercial carriers in only two years.^[4]

History

Thrust Flight was born out of a Florida-based aircraft importer called US Sport Aircraft,^[5] which between 2006 and 2017 purchased CZAW SportCruiser aircraft for use by its affiliated "partner" flight school, which became Thrust Flight.^[6] Current Thrust Flight CEO, Patrick Arnzen^[7] (who is also a certified aircraft mechanic and former airline pilot),^[8] acquired a part of the flight school business around 2010, and he entirely took over the company by 2012.^[9] Both Arnzen's father and grandfather were recreational pilots.^[9]

In 2022, Thrust Flight received Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval for an accelerated commercial course where students can obtain a job as a commercial pilot or instructor in as little as 7 months, or as a regional airline pilot in as little as 20 months.^[10][11]

In 2024, the company was acquired by investment capital firm Summit Park, of Charlotte, North Carolina.^[12]

The school maintains career path partnerships with several large airlines including Air Wisconsin, Avelo, Envoy Air, Republic Airways, SkyWest and Spirit.^[4][13][14] The school is certified under FAA Part 141 and Part 61.^[15] The FAA can authorize a flight school to have "examining authority," which allows the school to issue pilot certificates after students complete their training and pass an internal evaluation, bypassing the traditional need for a separate FAA inspector or Designated Pilot Examiner (DPE),^[16] and Thrust Flight is one of the 15% of U.S. flight schools with examining authority designation from the FAA.^[17]

In July 2025, the company launched a mechanics' school at the Conroe facility, and it established FAA-approved aircraft dispatcher courses in both Addison and North Texas (Denison).^[18][19]

Aircraft

Thrust Flight trains students using a Redbird FMX Full Motion flight simulator, as well as Piper PA-28 Cherokee (Archer TX), Piper PA-44 Seminole, and Game Composites GB1 GameBird aircraft.^[4][20]