Where it All Began
3,171
Estimated population of Kitty Hawk, N.C., in 2002. Kitty Hawk was the site of the Wright brothers’ first flight. According to the 1900 census, the latest taken at the time of the first flight, there were 4,757 people living in Dare County, where Kitty Hawk is located (in 2002, Dare County’s population was more than 32,000).
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/001118.html> <http://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/nc190090.txt>
<http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/population/000927.html>

Today’s Crowded Skies
612,000
Number of licensed airplane pilots. Among these —

• 244,000 have private pilot’s licenses.

• 121,000 are licensed to fly commercial aircraft.

• 145,000 are licensed to fly air transport planes.

• 34,000 are women.

• 87,000 are student pilots.

(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003.)

$107 billion
Annual operating revenue for the U.S. airline industry.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003.)

128,000
Number of jobs generated in 2001 by air transportation support services, such as air traffic control and other airport operations. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/business_ownership/000926.html>

129,000
Number of people employed as airplane pilots and navigators.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003.)

126,000
Number of aircraft engine mechanics — the people who keep the planes running.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003.)

19,000
Number of airports across the country. The majority of them (nearly 14,000) are private.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003.)

218,000
Number of general aviation (private) aircraft. In addition, there are 7,900 airliners.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003.)

4,138
The total number of aircraft available for public use (i.e., federal, state or local government-owned or leased aircraft). <http://www.bts.gov/publications/national_transportation_statistics/2002/html/table_general_aviation_profile.html>

9 million
Number of aircraft departures for the U.S. airline industry every year.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003.)

86
Percentage of flights that departed from the nation’s airports on time during the fourth quarter of 2002. Eighty-three percent arrived on time.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003.)

612 million
Number of paying passengers U.S. airlines carry annually. These air travelers fly an average of 1,046 miles per trip. (Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003.)

35 million
Number of passengers who used Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in 2002, making it the nation’s busiest. (Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003.)

3.2 million
Number of passengers who fly between New York and Fort Lauderdale annually, making this route the nation’s busiest. (Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003.)

Aerospace and Air Transportation Industries
449,000
The number of people employed in the aerospace product and parts manufacturing industry in 2001. These employees worked out of 1,792 establishments. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/business_ownership/000926.html>

90,000
Number of people employed as aerospace engineers.
(Source: soon-to-be-released Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2003.)

$135 billion
Total value of shipments in 2001 of manufactured aerospace products and parts. <http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/m01as-1.pdf>

609,000
Number of people employed in the air transportation industry in 2001. These employees worked out of 5,451 establishments. <http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/business_ownership/000926.html>

Aeronautical Records
24,987
Length in miles of the longest nonstop, unrefueled flight in history (by Richard Rutan and Jeana Yeager in the experimental, home-built aircraft Voyager in 1986). This marked the first time the world was ever circumnavigated non-stop by air. (Courtesy of the National Aeronautic Association.)

2,193 mph
The speed record (measured in ground speed), set in 1976 by Capt. Eldon W. Joersz of the U.S. Air Force. (Courtesy of the National Aeronautic Association.)

314,750
The highest altitude, in feet, ever reached by an aircraft. The record was set in 1962 by Maj. Robert White of the U.S. Air Force in a high-performance research aircraft. (Courtesy of the National Aeronautic Association.)