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General Aviation Profile

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FINANCIAL 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Expenditures, total ($ millions) 895 2,035 8,053 9,907 9,332 10,379 11,605 13,797 16,372 17,553 21,909 26,499 U U U U U U U U U U U U U
Aircraft 202 339 2,853 3,398 3,910 4,260 5,298 7,174 9,573 11,262 14,291 18,524 U U U U U U U U U U U U U
Operating costs 693 1,696 5,200 6,509 5,422 6,119 6,307 6,623 6,799 6,291 7,618 7,975 U U U U U U U U U U U U U

 

INVENTORY 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Number of active aircraft by primary use, total 76,549 131,743 211,045 196,800 176,600 188,089 191,129 192,414 204,710 219,464 217,533 211,446 211,244 209,708 219,426 224,352 221,943 231,607 228,663 223,877 223,370 U 209,034 199,927 204,408
Corporate N 6,835 14,860 10,100 10,200 10,600 9,900 10,411 11,250 10,804 11,003 10,544 10,810 10,493 10,212 10,553 11,054 10,864 11,715 10,498 10,405 U 9,392 10,670 11,888
Business N 26,900 49,391 33,100 26,500 28,300 30,700 27,716 32,611 24,543 25,169 25,525 24,153 25,042 24,189 25,524 24,413 24,993 22,432 22,445 21,666 U 17,542 15,915 15,794
Instructional N 10,727 14,862 18,600 15,100 14,200 12,700 14,663 11,375 16,081 14,883 14,254 13,203 12,714 13,099 13,399 14,316 14,650 14,975 14,130 15,404 U 12,838 13,401 13,163
Personal N 65,398 96,222 112,600 104,100 113,400 113,400 115,630 124,347 147,085 148,192 144,031 145,996 146,722 149,700 151,408 149,026 152,514 154,417 152,272 150,854 U 141,317 133,859 135,716
Aerial application N 5,455 7,294 6,200 4,400 5,000 5,000 4,858 4,550 4,254 4,294 3,779 3,971 3,250 3,202 3,548 3,430 4,164 3,106 3,161 3,313 U 3,606 3,636 3,126
Aerial observation N N N 4,900 5,100 4,700 3,000 3,311 3,242 3,240 5,093 5,039 4,535 4,223 4,814 4,663 4,407 5,188 5,304 5,288 5,929 U 5,294 4,806 5,958
External load N N N N 100 200 400 186 313 190 234 202 151 194 215 226 212 188 374 157 223 U 405 304 268
Other worka N 2,054 2,813 1,400 1,200 1,100 1,000 679 1,116 2,363 1,787 1,528 1,733 1,726 930 732 729 936 934 1,177 806 U 910 963 1,154
Air taxi / air toursb N N N 5,800 3,800 4,000 4,200 4,948 5,190 4,569 4,019 4,004 4,157 2,791 6,550 7,539 7,814 8,822 7,262 7,359 7,013 U 7,587 7,843 7,355
Sightseeingc N N N N 1,300 800 700 677 679 832 881 918 641 862 1,050 945 906 1,275 673 849 1,457 U 1,097 1,079 1,663
Otherd N 8,249 17,045 4,100 4,400 5,900 5,600 5,250 6,010 1,200 2,500 2,100 2,642 2,300 5,465 5,817 5,636 8,013 (R) 4,786 4,005 4,311 U 6,180 4,519 4,912
Public usee,f N N N N N N 4,500 4,130 4,029 4,138 N N N N N N N N N N N U N N N

 

PERFORMANCE 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Number of flight hours by actual use, total (thousands) 13,121 26,030 36,430 30,763 24,092 26,612 26,909 27,713 28,100 31,231 29,960 27,017 27,040 27,329 28,126 26,982 27,705 27,852 26,009 23,763 24,802 U 24,403 22,876 23,271
Corporate N N 5,332 2,913 2,486 3,069 2,898 2,878 3,213 3,535 3,341 2,657 3,275 3,227 2,849 3,072 3,114 3,214 (R) 2,505 2,532 2,387 U 2,126 1,717 1,745
Business 5,699 7,204 8,434 4,417 3,012 3,335 3,259 3,006 3,523 3,602 3,588 3,579 3,287 3,377 3,249 3,244 3,234 3,094 2,505 2,532 2,387 U 2,126 1,717 1,745
Instructional 1,828 6,791 5,748 7,244 4,382 4,410 4,759 4,956 3,961 5,795 5,050 4,307 4,182 4,393 4,035 3,635 4,322 3,804 4,427 3,440 3,885 U 3,727 3,978 3,818
Personal 3,172 6,896 8,894 9,276 8,248 9,659 9,037 9,644 9,781 11,072 11,477 11,266 11,025 11,251 10,239 9,266 9,141 8,676 8,279 8,540 8,006 U 8,185 7,189 6,860
Aerial application N N 2,044 1,872 1,364 1,526 1,713 1,562 1,306 1,408 1,318 1,038 1,182 1,099 1,142 1,031 946 1,415 922 960 1,070 U 956 1,014 940
Aerial observation N N N 1,745 1,746 1,391 1,057 1,261 812 1,244 1,545 1,442 1,366 1,262 1,457 1,265 1,197 1,364 1,427 1,211 1,667 U 1,325 1,141 1,496
External load N N N N 135 128 191 112 153 123 161 131 97 103 125 134 136 152 153 88 144 U 209 167 161
Other worka N N 1,053 572 241 280 265 139 286 605 496 256 369 414 264 176 198 145 317 222 259 U 261 264 250
Air taxi / air toursb N N N 2,249 1,545 1,527 1,834 2,122 2,583 1,985 2,122 1,587 1,495 1,332 2,764 3,210 3,041 3,621 2,642 2,421 2,498 U 2,794 2,738 2,925
Sightseeingc N N N N 309 179 195 127 169 218 197 183 134 175 204 191 171 160 152 119 173 U 166 157 176
Otherd 2,422 5,139 4,925 475 622 1,107 656 819 940 535 665 571 628 697 1,797 1,759 2,205 2,207 (R) 1,154 970 886 U 1,261 974 1,052
Public usee,f N N N N N N 1,047 1,096 1,373 1,109 N N N N N N N N N N N U N N N
Vehicle-miles (millions)g 1,769 3,207 5,204 4,548 3,358 3,795 3,524 3,877 U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U U
Passenger-miles (millions)g 2,300 9,100 14,700 13,000 9,800 10,800 12,000 12,500 13,100 14,100 15,200 15,900 U U U U U U U U U U U U U
Fuel consumed, total (million gallons)g 242 759 1,286 1,016 731 847 896 934 1,126 1,313 1,305 1,198 1,215 1,205 1,504 1,822 1,926 1,759 1,954 1,674 1,656 1,672 1,641 1,457 1,676
Aviation gasoline 242 551 520 353 266 287 289 292 311 345 333 279 277 272 273 295 283 274 248 227 221 216 206 197 210
Jet fuel N 208 766 663 464 560 608 642 815 967 972 918 938 932 1,231 1,527 1,643 1,486 1,706 1,447 1,435 1,456 1,435 1,260 1,466

 

SAFETY 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
Fatalities, totalh 787 1,310 1,239 770 730 734 636 631 624 621 596 562 581 633 559 563 706 496 (R) 496 479 458 452 437 391 419
Corporate N 28 66 21 6 15 20 3 0 30 13 12 5 5 10 8 3 5 0 U U U U U U
Business N 148 126 80 64 73 44 45 42 55 43 50 39 33 45 14 37 25 32 U U U U U U
Instructional N 93 73 62 47 44 40 38 38 38 64 40 42 71 31 45 47 30 37 U U U U U U
Personal N 726 808 492 472 488 413 432 432 383 386 376 407 444 369 415 369 361 332 U U U U U U
Aerial application N 41 32 17 17 15 10 17 6 14 19 14 14 6 10 14 8 7 7 U U U U U U
Other N 174 134 95 138 112 119 106 112 105 87 73 77 84 95 72 234 73 89 U U U U U U
Accidents, total 4,793 4,712 3,590 2,242 2,021 2,056 1,908 1,840 1,902 1,905 1,837 1,727 (R) 1,716 1,741 (R) 1,619 (R) 1,671 1,523 (R) 1,654 (R) 1,568 1,480 1,440 1,470 1,470 1,224 1,221
Fatal 429 641 618 444 404 412 361 350 364 340 345 325 345 352 314 321 308 288 277 275 271 269 272 222 253
Accident rate (per 100,000 flight hours)i,j 36.5 18.1 9.9 7.3 8.4 7.7 7.1 6.6 6.8 6.1 6.1 6.4 (R) 6.3 6.4 (R) 5.8 (R) 6.2 5.5 (R) 5.9 (R) 6.0 6.2 5.8 U 6.0 5.4 5.2
Fatal 3.3 2.5 1.7 1.4 1.7 1.5 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.1 1.2 1.1 1.0 (R) 1.1 1.2 1.1 U 1.1 1.0 1.1

KEY: N = data do not exist; P = preliminary; R = revised; U = data are not available.

a In 1960, 1970, 1980, classified as Industrial.

b Includes Air tours done under 14 CFR 135: Air taxi operators and commercial operators.

c Includes Sightseeing done under 14 CFR 91: general operating and flight rules.

d The significant decrease in Other for 1990 and later can be attributed to a redefinition of the category to only include aerial other, general aviation other, and medical use.

e Federal, state or local government-owned or leased aircraft used for the purpose of fulfilling a government function.

f Beginning in 2000, Public Use was included in Other Work.

g Includes air taxi operations. Nautical miles in source multiplied by 1.151 to convert from nautical miles.

h The sum of Fatalities does not necessarily equal the total due to aircraft involved in midair and on-ground collisions.

i Suicide/sabotage cases are included in Accidents and Fatalities data but are excluded from Accident rates.

jAccident rates are calculated by the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) using the formula: Accident Rates (per 100,000 flight hours) = Accidents or Fatalities/Flight Hours (thousands)*100.

NOTES

Numbers may not add to totals due to changes in sub-categories reported by the source, due to estimation and due to rounding.

Total fatalities in this profile may not match those in table 2-14 due to when the total fatalities data were received and the data breakdown by type of flying. NTSB constantly updates and reclassifies accident and fatality data.

1994-95 data for active aircraft by use, and flight hours, have been revised to reflect changes in the adjustment for nonresponse bias based on factors from the 1996 telephone survey.

1996 Vehicle-miles and fuel consumption data are estimated using new information on nonrespondents and are not comparable to earlier years.

SOURCES

Financial:

Expenditure:

1960-2001: Eno Transportation Foundation, Inc., Transportation in America, Annual Issues (Washington, DC), pp. 40 and 45, and similar tables in earlier editions.

Inventory:

Number of active aircraft by primary use, total:

U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, General Aviation and Part 135 Activity Surveys (Washington, DC: 1990-2014 issues), tables 1.2, available at http://www.faa.gov/data_research/aviation_data_statistics/general_aviation/ as of May 23, 2016.

Performance:

Number of flight hours by actual use, total:

Ibid., tables 1.4 and similar tables in earlier editions.

Vehicle-miles and passenger-miles:

1960-2001: Eno Transportation Foundation, Inc., Transportation in America, Annual Issues (Washington, DC), pp. 40 and 45, and similar tables in earlier editions.

Fuel consumed, total:

1960-1990: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, General Aviation and Air Taxi Acitivity and Avionics Survey (Washington, DC: 1990-2000 issues), table 5.1.

1994-2014: Ibid., Aviation Forecasts, (Washington, DC: Annual issues), table 31 and similar tables in earlier editions, available at http://www.faa.gov/data_research/aviation/ as of March 24, 2016.

Safety:

Fatalities, total:

1960-1970: National Transportation Safety Board, RE-50, personal communication.

1980-2006: Ibid., Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data, U.S. General Aviation, Calendar Year 1998 (Washington, DC: July 2000), charts 27, 39, 40, 41, 42 and 43, and personal communications on Sept. 10, 2002, Dec. 22, 2003, Apr. 30, 2004, Mar. 24, 2005, Nov. 7, 2006, and Oct. 30, 2007.

2007-2014: Ibid., Aviation Accident Statistics, table 10, available at http://www.ntsb.gov/aviation/stats.htm as of December 2, 2015, and personal communication on Mar. 04, 2010.

Accidents, total:

1960-80: National Transportation Safety Board, RE-50, personal communication. Annual Review of Aircraft Accident Data, U.S. General Aviation, Calendar Year 1998 (Washington, DC: July 2000), table 10, available at http://www.ntsb.gov/aviation/ as of July 22, 2004.

1990-2014: Ibid., Aviation Accident Statistics, table 10, available at http://www.ntsb.gov/aviation/stats.htm as of Dec. 2, 2015.