How much does an annual inspection cost? What 16 shops publish

An annual inspection is the yearly airworthiness inspection most US-registered aircraft need under 14 CFR 91.409(a), and its price is mostly labour. Many maintenance shops publish a flat rate for it, per aircraft type. This guide collects those rates from 16 shops' own websites, read on 20 October 2026: twelve in the United States, two in Canada, one in Germany and one in Switzerland. It also explains why the same aircraft costs twice as much at one shop as at another, and what comes on top of the flat rate.

Short answer: The median flat rate that 11 US shops publish for the annual of a Cessna 172 is $1,700, and the range runs from $1,400 to $3,255. For a Cessna 152 the median is $1,440, and for a Cessna 182 it is $1,915. Nine of the 16 pages say outright that parts, and the repairs the inspection finds, are billed on top; the rest do not say. In Europe, a shop in Germany lists €1,427 excluding VAT for the 100-hour check of a Cessna 172 (price list valid from 2024), and a flight school in Basel lists CHF 2,376 excluding VAT (list of 2021).

What US shops publish for a Cessna 172 annual

Shop	C172
North Florida AviationHerlong, Jacksonville, Florida · page 2017	$1,400
Skybound AviationPeachtree-DeKalb, Atlanta, Georgia · page 2026	$1,400
First Line AeroCherokee County Airport (KJSO), Texas · page undated	$1,550
PFM MaintenanceAtlanta, Georgia · page 2018	$1,600
Lore Aviation ServicesLake Charles, Louisiana · page 2026	$1,620
Gann AviationLaFayette, Georgia · page 2023	$1,700
Plane Cents Aero ServicesQuincy, Florida / Thomasville, Georgia · page 2023	from $1,700
Martin Aviation RepairCochran, Georgia · page 2026	$1,760
Bahan Aviation ServicesHouston, Texas · page 2026	$2,250
Blue Skies AviationSan Marcos, Texas · page undated	$2,250
Airworthy MaintenanceTampa, Florida · page 2024	$2,250
Rexair MaintenanceNaples, Florida · 2024 (file date)	$3,255

median $1,700

What the flat rates are, per type

The table gives each shop's own figure for five common club and owner aircraft; on a phone it scrolls sideways. Where a shop does not list a type, the cell is empty. The year is the one shown on the page, as a copyright footer or a "valid from" date. A page from 2017 may still show an old price.

Notes on the rows. The Cessna 172 column is the shop's "170/172/175/177" or "172" line. A late-model 172, such as the 172S many clubs fly, costs more at some shops: $2,500 at Bahan, Blue Skies and Airworthy, $1,800 at Lore and €1,636 at A-Maintenance. The PA-28 column is the shop's Cherokee/Warrior/Archer line; where a shop prices the models separately, the figure is the Archer (PA-28-181) — Flugschule Basel, for instance, lists CHF 1,980 for a PA-28-140 and CHF 2,244 for a PA-28-151/161. Rexair's rate card carries no year on the page; 2024 is the date in its file name. The Plane Cents figures are floors ("begin at"). Bahan, Blue Skies and Airworthy publish the same table, so they are not three independent prices: counted once, the US median for a Cessna 172 is $1,620 instead of $1,700. Rexair prices by class; the figure shown is its "4 Cylinder, Fixed Gear, 4 Place" rate. Coast Dog Aviation's page names no currency. The two European prices exclude VAT. They are for the 100-hour check; under EASA Part-ML a light aeroplane whose programme follows the minimum inspection programme is inspected every year or every 100 hours, whichever comes first. A-Maintenance bills the airworthiness review (ARC) separately, on time and materials.

What is in the flat rate, and what is not

What the shops describe as included is the inspection itself: opening and closing the aircraft, working through the checklist and the paperwork. What that checklist has to cover is in what does an annual or 100-hour inspection include? Some include a fixed amount of AD research — Gann "1 hour of AD research (If more than 1 hour is needed it will be extra)", North Florida Aviation three hours — while Plane Cents Aero Services charges $79 for it and WCS Aviation leaves it out of the price. Several also include a compression check (Gann, Martin, Rexair) or a borescope of the cylinders (Martin, Rexair). Nine of the 16 pages say what is not included, in much the same words. Blue Skies Aviation: "Inspection pricing does NOT include: Parts (oil, filters, O-rings, etc.) A.D. compliance labor or parts Repairs, discrepancies, or additional services". Skybound Aviation charges "any additional defects found during the inspection that require repair … at our current shop rate of $99.00 plus parts and supplies". Airworthy Maintenance calls its prices "estimates only", adding that "Additional labor may be required based on the age and condition of the aircraft."

So the flat rate is the floor of the bill, not the bill. How far above it the invoice lands depends on the aircraft: its age, its ADs, and whatever the inspection finds.

Why one shop charges twice as much as another

A flat rate is a number of labour hours times the shop's hourly rate, and several shops publish the hours next to the price. Four US shops and one Canadian shop count the same 18 hours for a Cessna 172. The price then differs only by the hourly rate it works out to: $90 at Lore Aviation Services, $125 at Bahan, Blue Skies and Airworthy, and CAD 118 at WCS Aviation. (The hourly rate Bahan names on its page, $145, is for repairs.)

A flat rate is hours × the shop's labour rate

Shop	Hours	Per hour	C172
Bahan Aviation Services	18	$125	$2,250
Blue Skies Aviation	18	$125	$2,250
Airworthy Maintenance	18	$125	$2,250
Lore Aviation Services	18	$90	$1,620
WCS Aviation	18	CAD 118	CAD 2,124
Coast Dog Aviation	14	180	2,520

The cheapest Cessna 172 rate, $1,400, comes from two shops: Skybound Aviation, whose page is current, and North Florida Aviation, whose page shows 2017. The most expensive, Rexair, prices by class and names a shop labour rate of $155 an hour; its rate card lists "AD research, Engine Compression Testing, Borescope and Fuel Injector cleaning" in the price. When you compare quotes, compare what the hours buy, not only the total.

Annual or 100-hour: does it cost the same?

Eight of the 12 US shops label their price as covering both the annual and the 100-hour; Bahan quotes the 100-hour separately. The difference is who may sign it and how often it is due. An annual is typically signed by a mechanic with an inspection authorization and is due every 12 calendar months. A 100-hour inspection can be signed by a mechanic with airframe and powerplant ratings, and an aircraft needs it only for certain flights. See does a flying club aircraft need a 100-hour inspection? for when it applies and how the FAA and EASA count the next one.

For a club aircraft used for paid instruction the club provides, that adds up. Flying 300 hours a year, it needs three inspections a year, one of which can be the annual if it falls at the right time or a 100-hour is signed off as an annual. At the median Cessna 172 rate that is $5,100 a year before parts and repairs, or $17 per flight hour.

What to budget

Our aircraft ownership cost calculator plans $2,000 a year for the annual of a four-cylinder aircraft at US prices, plus $40 per flight hour for the 50- and 100-hour items and consumables. That is above the median flat rate, which leaves out parts and the repairs the inspection finds. Put your own shop's quote in its place. The cost of owning a plane shows where the annual sits among the other fixed costs.