AerScheduler

AerScheduler vs Flight Circle

Flight Circle is one of the few products that takes flight training seriously, and the comparison is closer here than anywhere else on this site. Both build syllabi, both enroll students against them, both sign lessons. The difference is what the record can tell you afterwards.

Flight Circle is an established competitor with a capable training module and content builder. Details below reflect their public documentation; verify current capabilities on their site.

Side-by-side

TopicAerSchedulerFlight Circle
Getting startedSelf-serve signup. Book in minutes.Account setup with the vendor
Pricing model$20/mo per aircraft. Sims & rooms free. Unlimited users.Quoted per school (varies)
Custom syllabiStages, lessons, graded tasks, your own grading scaleYes, with a lesson content builder
Hour requirementsTracked as a ledger. One night cross-country credits four requirements at onceLessons are ticked off; hour minimums are not modelled
Simulator & transfer capsAppendix B and §141.77 ceilings applied, with the clipped amount shownNot modelled
Editing a published syllabusRefused. Revising forks a version; enrolled students keep theirsEditable in place
Correcting a signed lessonA correction supersedes it and reverses what it credited. Both stay readableRecords can be edited
Where grading happensInside the flight close-out, alongside the invoiceA separate training screen
Offline gradingYes, on iOS. Grades queue at the aircraft and sync laterNot offered
Training permissionsConfigure, enroll/graduate, check instructor (per course), auditorConfigure, enroll/graduate, check instructor, auditor
Course feesSet a fee per course, billed through your ordinary invoicesFee item attached at enrollment
Lesson content (video, reading, quizzes)Not built. We link out to Sporty's, King or GleimBuilt in, via their content builder
Best fitSchools that want the record to answer whether a student is legal to testSchools that want courseware and the record in one tool

Four questions to ask both products

Not marketing claims. Things you can try during a trial.

Ask either product how many hours of night the student has

Ours answers, and says where each tenth came from. §61.109 asks for 40 hours total, 20 dual, 10 solo, 3 night, 3 instrument and a list of specific flights. We store each as a requirement and every signed lesson deposits into it. A lesson list cannot answer the question, which is why finishing the syllabus and being ready to test are not the same day.

Ask what happens to eighteen transfer hours when the rule allows ten

§141.77 caps what a school may credit from previous training. We credit ten, keep the eighteen on the record, and say on screen that eight were above the cap. Dropping them silently is how a student finds out at a checkride.

Try to fix a typo in a published syllabus

Ours refuses, and explains that students are enrolled against exactly those lessons. Revising forks a new version and anyone mid-course keeps the one they started under. That refusal is the feature — under Part 141 the syllabus is a document you filed, not a page you edit.

Correct a lesson you already signed

Ours writes the correction beside the original, reverses everything the original credited, and keeps both readable forever. §141.101 asks for a record. A record where mistakes disappear is not one.

When AerScheduler is the better fit

  • You need the record to answer whether a student is legal to test, not just how far through the lessons they are
  • You are Part 141, or heading there, and want the immutability to already be in place
  • Your instructors debrief at the aircraft, where there is no signal
  • You want grading and invoicing to come out of the same close-out
  • You prefer per-aircraft pricing with unlimited seats and a self-serve start

When Flight Circle may fit better

  • You want ground-school content — video, reading and quizzes — inside the same tool. We deliberately do not build courseware and link out to Sporty's, King or Gleim instead
  • Your syllabus depends on their lesson content builder
  • You need a Flight Circle workflow or integration we do not cover yet

Try it against your own syllabus

Start from our Private, Instrument, Commercial or CFI template, enroll one student, and sign a lesson. The hours post themselves. 14 days, no sales call.

Start freeHow training records work