FAA Certificated PilotsFAA Certificated Pilots

FAA Certificated Pilots 1929-2011

Current as of March 2011 (if not otherwise stated)
Source: FAA U.S. Civil Airmen Statistics

Note: Certificate type (private, commercial, etc.) cannot be used to determine the number of "private pilots" or general aviation pilots. Many pilots who fly for personal business or pleasure earn higher FAA certificates or ratings for personal achievement. As a rule of thumb, about 20 percent of all pilots are actually employed full-time as pilots.

* "Other" includes helicopter (only) and glider (only). In March 2001, the FAA Registry changed the definition of this pilot category. * In July 2010, the FAA issued a rule that increased the duration of validity for student pilot certificates for pilots under the age of 40 from 36 to 60 months. This resulted in the increase in active student pilots to 119,119 from 72,280 at the end of 2009. **** Forecast - 2011
Year	Student	Recreational	Sport	Private	Commercial	ATP	Other	Total Pilots	Flight Instructor
2011****	115,000	210	4,350	195,650	123,900	142,650	36,900 ^*	618,660	96,551
2010***	119,119	215	3,682	220,008	139,100	145,464	36,652*	627,588	96,473
2009	72,280	234	3,248	221,619	125,738	144,600	36,566*	594,285	94,863
2008	80,989	252	2,623	222,596	124,746	146,838	35,702*	613,746	93,202
2007	84,339	239	2,031	211,096	115,127	143,953	33,564*	590,349	92,175
2006	84,866	239	939	219,233	117,610	141,935	32,287 ^*	597,109	91,343
2005	87,213	278	134	228,619	120,614	141,992	30,887 ^*	609,737	90,555
2004	87,910	297		235,994	122,592	142,160	29,977 ^*	618,930	89,596
2003	87,296	310		241,045	123,990	143,504	28,866 ^*	625,011	87,816
2002	85,991	317		245,230	125,920	144,708	29,596 ^**	631,762	86,089
2001	86,731	316		243,823	120,502	144,702	16,200	612,274	82,875
2000	93,064	340		251,561	121,858	141,596	17,162	625,581	80,931
1999	97,359	343		258,749	124,261	137,642	17,118	635,472	79,694
1998	97,736	305		247,226	122,053	134,612	16,366	618,298	79,171
1997	96,101	284		247,604	125,300	130,858	16,195	616,342	78,102
1996	94,947	265		254,002	129,187	127,486	16,374	622,261	78,551
1995	101,279	232		261,399	133,676	123,877	18,416	638,879	77,613
1994	96,254	241		284,236	138,728	117,434	17,195	654,088	76,171
1993	103,583	206		283,700	143,014	117,070	17,496	665,069	75,021
1992	114,597	187		288,078	146,385	115,855	17,857	682,959	72,148
1991	120,203	161		293,306	148,365	112,167	17,893	692,095	69,209
1990	128,663	87		299,111	149,666	107,732	17,400	702,659	63,775
1989	142,544			293,179	144,540	102,087	17,660	700,010	61,472
1988	136,913			299,786	143,030	96,968	17,319	694,016	61,798
1987	146,016			300,949	143,645	91,287	17,756	699,653	60,316
1986	150,273			305,736	147,798	87,186	18,125	709,118	57,355
1985	146,652			311,086	151,632	82,740	17,430	709,540	58,940
1984	150,081			320,086	155,929	79,192	17,088	722,376	61,173
1983	147,197			318,643	159,495	75,938	16,731	718,004	62,201
1982	156,361			322,094	165,093	73,471	16,236	733,255	62,492
1981	179,912			328,562	168,580	70,311	16,817	764,182	57,523
1980	199,833			357,479	183,442	69,569	16,748	827,071	60,440
1979	210,180			343,276	182,097	63,652	15,462	814,667	54,398
1978	204,874			337,644	185,833	55,881	14,601	798,833	52,201
1977	203,510			327,424	188,763	50,149	14,086	783,932	49,362
1976	188,801			309,005	187,801	45,072	13,567	744,246	46,236
1975	176,978			305,863	189,342	42,592	13,412	728,187	44,777
1974	180,795			305,848	192,425	41,002	13,658	733,728	42,418
1973	181,905			298,921	182,444	38,139	13,198	714,607	36,795
1972	181,477			321,413	196,228	37,714	14,037	750,869	37,858
1971	186,428			312,656	192,409	35,949	13,567	741,009	37,760
1970	195,861			303,779	186,821	34,430	11,838	732,729	37,822
1969	203,520			299,491	176,585	31,442	8,990	720,028	33,992
1968	209,406			281,728	164,458	28,607	7,496	691,695	30,361
1967	181,287			253,312	150,135	25,817	7,380	617,931	44,421
1966	165,177			222,427	131,539	23,917	5,697	548,757	38,897
1965	139,172			196,393	116,665	22,440	5,100	479,770	34,904
1964	120,743			175,574	108,428	21,572	4,724	431,041	32,158
1963	105,298			152,209	96,341	20,269	4,583	378,700	29,618
1962	94,870			149,405	95,047	20,032	4,617	363,971	28,873
1961	93,973			144,312	92,976	19,155	2,444	352,860	30,165
1960	99,182			138,869	89,904	18,279	1,828	348,062	31,459
1959	107,816			139,804	93,815	18,950	—	360,385
1958	103,456			140,673	93,126	15,840	—	353,095
1957	98,498			124,799	70,813	13,964	—	308,074
1956	95,124			96,864	54,542	11,173	—	257,703
1955	80,494			132,526	72,957	11,774	—	297,751
1954	71,959			184,595	80,340	12,129	—	349,023
1953	—			—	—	18,279	—	18,279
1952	—			371,174	191,824	10,893	—	573,891
1951	—			371,854	197,900	10,813	—	580,567
1950	—			—	—	—	—	—
1949	—			328,380	187,789	9,025	—	525,194
1948	—			306,699	176,845	7,762	—	491,306
1947	—			244,270	181,912	7,059	—	433,241
1946	—			189,156	203,251	7,654	—	400,061
1945	—			128,207	162,873	5,815	—	296,895
1944	—			111,883	66,449	3,046	—	181,378
1943	—			106,951	63,940	2,315	—	173,206
1942	—			108,689	55,760	2,177	—	166,626
1941	—			93,782	34,578	1,587	—	129,947
1940	—			49,507	18,791	1,431	—	69,729
1939	—			20,832	11,677	1,197	—	33,706
1938	—			13,985	7,839	1,159	—	22,983
1937	—			10,206	6,411	1,064	—	17,681
1936	—			7,622	7,288	842	—	15,752
1935	—			6,707	7,062	736	—	14,505
1934	—			5,789	7,484	676	—	13,949
1933	—			5,771	7,635	554	—	13,960
1932	—			10,297	7,964	330	—	18,591
1931	—			9,226	8,513	—	—	17,739
1930	—			7,433	7,847	—	—	15,280
1929	—			4,162	5,053	—	—	9,215

Updated Friday, March 25, 2011