Justin Houtz | Flight Instructor

Certificates & Ratings Held:  CFI, CFII

Aircraft Specialization:

Instructor Bio

From a very young age I was always enamored with the idea of travel and the many creative ways to do it. I went on my first commercial flight when I was 8 years old. We crossed the country from Arizona to Florida, and my mind just opened up to how big the world was. I remember one of the staff came around and gave me a pilot wings pin, and I spent the rest of the flight pretending I was flying the plane.

I had a handful of opportunities to go flying in smaller planes growing up, but generally the world of aviation felt like a someday dream, and I focused on adventures on the ground. My parents worked at a number of retreat centers in mountainous areas for most of my childhood and this instilled in me a passion for leading people through meaningful experiences in the outdoors. I ended up with an exciting, memory-filled first career as an outdoor guide, youth worker, and eventually a camp director.

Aviation came back into my story rather suddenly when my father-in-law, a captain at Alaska Airlines, asked me if I wanted to go try out the simulator. We had an amazing time and I was hooked! This was just before my wife and I set out to travel the world for a year. Over that year, a plan to pursue a flight career developed and I moved back to my home state of Arizona to do flight school. I eventually moved back to the PNW for the cooler weather and beautiful views to finish my training. 

I am thrilled to now be on staff at Rainier Flight Service, and I look forward to helping people make their flying dreams come true!