CALIFORNIA AIRWAYS, LLC

California Airways has been training pilots at Hayward Executive Airport (KHWD) since 1954, making it the oldest flight school in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founded more than seven decades ago, the school has outlasted countless competitors and economic cycles while keeping its base on the east shore of the Bay, where coastal marine layer and Bay Area airspace complexity provide students with a genuine instrument-training environment from day one. Under owner and director Chris Milsap, the operation holds FAA Part 141 approval — the more rigorous certification path that requires structured syllabi and regular FAA oversight — and also trains under Part 61 for students who need scheduling flexibility.

The fleet runs deep in Cessna trainers: multiple Cessna 152s and a range of 172 variants (172N, 172P, 172R, and 172S), supplemented by a Cessna 182 and three simulators including a Frasca G100 and two Elite systems. That mix lets students log sim hours toward instrument currency without burning avgas. Chief Pilot Ian Carisi oversees Part 91 instruction, and the curriculum spans the full single-engine progression — Private, Instrument, Commercial, and CFI — plus multi-engine add-ons, covering every rating a professional pilot needs before heading to a regional carrier or corporate flight department.

California Airways sits at 19990 SkyWest Drive on the field at KHWD, a towered airport with Class D airspace that feeds directly into the Oakland Class B transition. Hayward's position between San Jose, Oakland, and San Francisco means students routinely work with Bay TRACON and navigate complex corridor restrictions — experience that translates directly to working in busy airspace professionally. For pilots based in the East Bay or South Bay who want structured Part 141 training at a school that has been doing this since Eisenhower was president, California Airways remains the default starting point. More at [california-airways.com](https://www.california-airways.com).