US - number of private pilots halves since 1980

[Gnarly Gnu]

"Small-town airports close as higher plane costs, falling interest lead to pilot decline".

 

Given the increase in population this is a drastic fall. I imagine a similar percentage over here? Seems to me the 70's were the high point of much in aviation, I'd be interested in comments from those that were flying then. I was reading passed-along copies of US GA type aviation magazines about then and watching them fly overhead, just amazing to a young kid. Probably there won't even be actual aviation magazines to pass along before long.

 

 

[Guest SrPilot]

"Small-town airports close as higher plane costs, falling interest lead to pilot decline". . . . . Seems to me the 70's were the high point of much in aviation, I'd be interested in comments from those that were flying then. . . . Probably there won't even be actual aviation magazines to pass along before long.

Well Gnarly

 

I remember the “good ole days” when the kids interested in aviation would make their way to the local airport hoping to look at planes and maybe – if lucky – hitch a ride. My first ride was in a fabric-covered Piper in 1952; my second was in a surplus military trainer, so I've been there, done that, a lot, but way before the 1970s. From the 1950s into perhaps the early-to-mid 1990s, Saturday mornings at many U.S. airports were periods of significant activity. Students in number were there for classes or flying sessions; local pilots were flying or washing planes or “hangar flying.” Planes available for rent sat on the ramp ready to go. As an instructor (airplane and instrument), I had appointments to keep. Sunday afternoons were a repeat of Saturdays.

 

Of course locally when we have a college football game, we go to the airport to watch the transit aircraft traffic hauling in fans for the game. [Our local stadium holds over 100,000 people, and we have had over 90,000 fans show up for practice games, so football Saturdays for actual inter-collegic games are busy, busy times.]

 

Today, except for football Saturdays, many airport are relatively quiet. Locally, our EAA Chapter has died away a couple of times for lack of new members. It struggles back from time to time, attempting a return. Hangars have been torn down; student-starts are down; flying seems way, way down. I have gone to the airport on Saturdays plenty of times to discover that I am the only person (or one of the few people) around for hours.

 

Date U.S. Population /// Active Licensed Pilots (Total / Private / Student / Light Sport)

 

2013 316,500,000 /// 617,000

 

2010 310,000,000+ /// 627,588 / 220,008 / 119,119 / 4,350 (began 2005)

 

2000 282,000,000+ /// 625,581 / 251,000 / 93,064 / n/a

 

1990 249,000,000+ /// 702,659 / 299,111 / 128,663 / n/a

 

1983 233,700,000+ /// 718,004

 

1980 227,000,000+ /// 827,071 / 357,479 / 199,833 / n/a

 

1970 205,000,000+ /// 732,729 / 303,779 / 195,861 / n/a

 

The current data reflect a decline in licensed pilots of about 8,000 pilots in the last decade and a decline of approximately 101,000 in the preceding 3 decades. There have been a few rebounds but the overall trend is downward.

 

Facts are facts. We can debate the reasons. I have my list. And I agree that there will not be aviation magazines to pass along sometime in the not-too-distant future. They're going the way of the dinosaur and the daily newspaper. (In my state, the largest newspaper by circulation cut back to 3 days a week a couple of years ago. Our local paper still publishes 7 days a week, but its size has shrunk significantly. At the local book store there are many more British aviation magazines available than U.S. aviation magazines because a lot of U.S. magazines no longer publish in print. Digital is where it is or is going, IMO.

 

 

[pmccarthy]

I started flying in 1970. It was a vibrant, lively scene in many towns and cities. Club meetings and social events attracted lots of people in their twenties. The same people are still involved, now in their sixties, but far fewer. The young people, with some notable exceptions, are gone.

 

Young people revered astronauts then , and astronauts were test pilots first, flying was as close as we could get.

 

Where is that kid who would polish a plane for free rides? I would give lots of free rides to get that job done.

 

 

[Guest SrPilot]

I started flying in 1970. It was a vibrant, lively scene in many towns and cities. Club meetings and social events attracted lots of people in their twenties. The same people are still involved, now in their sixties, but far fewer. The young people, with some notable exceptions, are gone.

I agree with you, pmccarthy, but with one observation. You have two sentences that I need to edit. As edited, they become one, and it reads:

 

"The same people are still involved, now in their sixties, but these young people are far fewer."

 

 

[fly_tornado]

GNu America is the land of opportunity, just not income growth for working people

 

 

 

[facthunter]

I don't think anyone would dispute the facts. Activity is down. Interest is down.

 

You have to have surplus money for flying. Most things take precedence over it. It now take two to keep a family going. Houses are larger than ever. Having more cars doesn't count as they are so cheap . You can almost get given an older one that still runs OK.

 

After the war there were a lot of aircraft going cheaply, and there were unused aerodromes everywhere with hangars. Most of these have been used up for supermarkets, or Industrial estates..

 

The older aircraft had no radio or electrics. You swung the prop. Aerodromes were all over fields. Bankstown was like that when I flew there. There was one strip for Vampires etc. Towers had coloured lights.. Nev

 

 

[Nobody]

I don't think anyone would dispute the facts.

Except that the headline of the article isnt supported by the facts!!!!!! If the numbers in post 2 are right the number in 1980 was ~827,000. the current is ~617,000. Yes a reduction and worthy of discussion but not a half!!!!

 

 

[facthunter]

827/627 Half ??? Nev

 

 

[Nobody]

827/627 Half ??? Nev

Thats my point. The title of this thread is a gross over exaggeration of the situation.

 

 

[facthunter]

I think they take total population into account to get a proportion. Nev

 

 

[Nobody]

I think they take total population into account to get a proportion. Nev

In which case the title should be proportion of pilots halves not number of pilots halves.

 

Look while this may sound like semantics it is as important as the all light aircraft are Cessnas. While aviation does have an issue with declining numbers the extent isnt as bad as the headline makes out.

 

 

[Yenn]

Young peope are not interested in flying nowadays. I don't know why.

 

Living near an industrial city with high wages you would expect flying to be thriving here, but it is going the other way. At our local strip we have lost 4 flyers in the last couple of years, 2 others hardly ever fly and we have 1 recent addition to the group.

 

In the past we did host a fly in, but there is no chance of that happening again without a big change. In the meantime we are all getting older and closer to wing clipping time.

 

 

[Gnarly Gnu]

In which case the title should be proportion of pilots halves not number of pilots halves.

Sorry Nobody the confusion may have been caused by the thread title I posted, I simply based it on the linked article which states "Since peaking at 357,000 in 1980, the number of pilots with private certificates has plunged to 188,000." So about half (apparently despite the increase in US population since 1980 from 227m to 319m). But yes these figures maybe wildly inaccurate, they seem very low at best. Appeared to me when I was there to be a significant percentage of Alaskan residents that fly for a start.

 

Hey it's just the media so I would instead suggest SrPilots quoted numbers would be more credible. However as a percentage of the population yes it is about half when taken from his numbers - 3.6% in 1980 to 1.9% in 2013.

 

 

[facthunter]

Both methods are relevant. If you are selling stuff...... total numbers Interest of the average person.% of population... comparison . Trends available from both . Nev