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General Aviation Profile

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

General Aviation Profile

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Financial 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Expenditures ($ millions)                    
Aircraftj 202 339 2,853 3,398 3,910 4,260 R5,298 7,174 R9,573 11,262
Operating costs 693 1,696 5,200 R6,509 R5,422 R6,119 R6,307 R6,623 R6,799 6,291
Total 895 2,035 8,053 R9,907 R9,332 R10,379 R11,605 R13,797 R16,372 17,553

Inventory 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Number of active aircraft by primary use                    
Corporatek N 6,835 14,860 10,100 9,400 9,800 9,300 10,411 11,250 10,804
Business N 26,900 49,391 33,100 26,500 26,200 28,200 27,716 32,611 24,543
Instructional N 10,727 14,862 18,600 15,000 14,800 14,300 14,663 11,375 16,081
Personal N 65,398 96,222 112,600 102,500 109,300 109,600 115,630 124,347 147,085
Aerial application N 5,455 7,294 6,200 4,300 5,100 5,400 4,858 4,550 4,254
Aerial observation N N N 4,900 5,100 4,700 3,200 3,311 3,242 3,240
External load N N N N 100 200 400 186 313 190
Other worka N 2,054 2,813 1,400 1,200 1,100 1,100 579 1,116 2,363
Air taxi/air toursb N N N 5,800 3,800 4,100 3,900 4,948 5,190 4,569
Sight seeingc N N N N 1,300 900 900 677 679 832
Otherh N 8,249 17,045 4,100 4,200 6,300 6,700 5,250 6,010 1,200
Public use N N N N N N 4,200 4,130 4,029 4,138
Total 76,549 131,743 211,045 196,800 172,400 188,100 191,100 192,400 204,710 219,464

Performance 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Number of flight hours by actual use (thousands)                    
Corporatem N N 5,332 2,913 2,486 2,869 2,718 2,878 3,213 3,616
Business m5,699 m7,204 8,434 4,417 3,012 3,191 3,152 3,006 3,523 3,598
Instructional 1,828 6,791 5,748 7,244 4,156 4,106 4,425 4,956 3,961 5,893
Personal 3,172 6,896 8,894 9,276 8,248 9,320 8,893 9,644 9,781 11,294
Aerial application N N 2,044 1,872 1,364 1,557 1,787 1,562 1,306 1,415
Aerial observation N N N 1,745 1,746 1,385 1,036 1,261 812 1,243
External load N N N N 135 118 203 112 153 128
Other worka N N 1,053 572 241 268 262 139 286 613
Air taxi/air toursb N N N 2,249 1,545 1,527 1,773 2,120 2,583 2,043
Sight seeingc N N N N 309 206 186 127 169 220
Otherh 2,422 5,139 4,925 475 622 1,121 644 819 940 581
Public used N N N N N N 1,021 1,096 1,373 1,111
Total 13,121 26,030 36,430 30,763 24,092 25,667 26,100 27,713 28,100 31,756
Vehicle-milese (millions) m1,769 m3,207 m5,204 m4,548 m3,358 m3,795 m3,524 m3,877 U U
Passenger-milese,j (millions) 2,300 9,100 14,700 13,000 9,800 10,800 12,000 12,500 R13,100 13,500
Fuel consumede (million gallons) n242 n759 n1,286 n1,016 s731 s847 s896 s934 s1,126 s1,313
Aviation gasoline 242 551 520 353 266 287 289 292 311 345
Jet fuel N 208 766 663 464 560 608 642 815 967

Safety 1960 1970 1980 1990 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999
Fatalitiesf                    
Corporate N o28 p66 p21 r5 p15 p20 r3 r0 r30
Business N 148 126 80 R64 73 44 R45 42 55
Instructional N 93 73 62 47 44 40 38 R38 38
Personal N 726 808 492 R472 488 413 R432 R432 385
Aerial application N 41 32 17 17 15 10 R17 6 14
Other N 174 134 95 R132 99 105 R106 R116 113
Total o787 1,310 1,239 767 R725 734 632 R641 R631 630
Accidents                    
Fatalq 429 641 618 443 403 412 360 R352 R368 342
Total 4,793 4,712 3,590 2,215 1,994 2,053 R1,909 R1,851 1,909 1,913
Accident rateg,i (per 100,000 flight hours)                    
Fatal 3.3 2.5 1.7 R1.4 R1.7 1.6 R1.4 R1.3 R1.3 1.1
Total 36.5 18.1 9.9 R7.2 R8.3 R8.0 R7.3 R6.7 R6.8 6.0

KEY: N = data do not exist; R = revised.

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 sight seeing done under 14 CFR 91: general operating and flight rules.

d Federal, state or local Government-owned or leased aircraft used for the purpose of fulfilling a government position.

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

f Sum of fatalities does not necessarily equal total. Differences are due to methodology used to count collisions involving aircraft in different categories.

g Suicide/sabotage cases are included in accidents and fatalities data but are excluded from accident rates.

h Significant decrease in "Other" can be attributed to a redefining of the category to only include "Aerial Other" and "Medical Use."

i Accident rates are calculated by BTS using the formula: Accident Rates (per 100,000 flight hours) = Fatalities/Flight Hours*100.

NOTES:

Numbers may not add to totals 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 adjustment for nonresponse bias with 1996 telephone survey factors. 1996 vehicle-miles and fuel consumption data are estimated using new information on nonrespondents and are not comparable to earlier years.

SOURCES: Unless otherwise noted, refer to chapter tables for sources.

j Eno Transportation Foundation, Inc., Transportation in America, Annual Issues (Washington, DC), pp. 8-11, 14-15.

k United States. Federal Aviation Administration, General Aviation and Air Taxi Activity and Avionics Survey (Washington, DC: 1990-1999 issues), table 1.1.

l Ibid., table 1.6 and similar tables in earlier editions.

m Ibid., table 3.3 and similar tables in earlier editions.

n Ibid., table 5.1.

o National Transportation Safety Board, RE-50, personal communication.

p 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.

q Ibid., Internet site http://www.ntsb.gov/aviation/ as of Sept. 27, 2001, table 10.

r Ibid., personal communication, Oct. 2, 2001.

s U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA Aerospace Forecasts, Fiscal Years 2001-2012 (Washington, DC: March 2001), table 30.