Created by an airline pilot recruiter and instructor pilot.
Our Program Director
Zack Weisenburger, Director of Airline Training
Zack brings an unmatched depth of real-world airline and training experience to Texas Flight Airline Academy. He has served as a CFI, CFII, MEI, Chief Flight Instructor, Regional Airline Pilot, Regional Airline Recruiter, Simulator Instructor, and Boeing 777 Instructor Pilot.
Beyond the cockpit, Zack has helped design computer-based training, curricula, and lessons for airline training departments. He is a recognized expert in Competency-Based Training & Assessment (CBTA), Evidence-Based Training (EBT), Crew Resource Management (CRM), and Threat & Error Management (TEM), the very same principles airlines use to train their crews.
Drawing on his insider perspective as both a recruiter and airline instructor, Zack personally developed Texas Flight Airline Academy to address the exact gaps he saw in today’s pilot candidates. The result is a program built from day one around airline philosophy and methodology, producing pilots who are not just certified but airline-ready, confident, and superior to typical flight-school graduates.
Zack is also a U.S. Army veteran and former paratrooper with combat deployments to Afghanistan, where he was a reconnaissance team leader and specialized in close air support. His discipline, leadership, and commitment to excellence permeate every part of the program, ensuring students graduate with the skills, mindset, and professionalism to thrive in any cockpit.
Zack, after completing his first flight in the Boeing 777
Texas Flight Airline Academy is a specialized program within Texas Flight, a well-established flight school on the north side of Houston. We built this program to fill a critical gap in the way future airline pilots are trained. While most “big name” schools charge well over $100,000 for programs that only meet the bare FAA minimums, Texas Flight Airline Academy was designed from the ground up to do far more, for less.
Unlike typical programs that use inexperienced instructors and offer little real-world preparation, our academy immerses you in airline-style training philosophy and methodology from Day One. Every lesson, every procedure, and every hour in the airplane is built to prepare you to get the job and mirror how you’ll be trained once hired. You’re not just checking boxes to earn a rating; you’re building the skills, habits, and mindset airlines actually want to see when they’re hiring.
This isn’t theory. Our program was created by a former airline pilot recruiter and regional airline simulator instructor who has personally reviewed pilot résumés, conducted interviews, and trained new hires. We know exactly what airlines are looking for, what questions you’ll face in interviews, and which deficiencies cause pilots to struggle in new-hire training. That insider knowledge is baked into our syllabus, so you learn the right way the first time and avoid developing the “bad habits” that cause pilots to struggle or wash out.
Our students will graduate with higher total time, significantly more multi-engine and crew cross-country experience, and advanced scenario-based training in areas like aeronautical decision making, threat and error management, and crew resource management. We integrate Competency-Based Training and Assessment (CBTA) methods throughout the program so you’re evaluated the way airlines evaluate their own crews. Our graduates are just a higher caliber of pilot.
And we do all of this at a cost that’s lower than every other major professional pilot program. You’ll leave with the ratings you need, the experience you want, and the confidence to stand out at interviews and excel in airline training. In short, our graduates are not just certified, they’re airline-ready.