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Table 1-13: Active Air Carrier and General Aviation Fleet by Type of Aircraft

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Table 1-13: Active Air Carrier and General Aviation Fleet by Type of Aircraft

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  1965 1970 1975 1980 a1985 a1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000
AIR CARRIERb 2,125 2,679 2,495 3,805 4,678 6,083 6,054 7,320 7,297 7,370 7,411 7,478 7,616 8,111 8,228 7,935
Fixed Wing 2,104 2,663 2,488 3,803 4,673 6,072 6,048 7,187 7,173 7,242 7,293 7,357 7,482 7,994 8,106 7,898
Turbojet, total 725 2,136 2,114 2,526 3,164 4,148 4,167 4,446 4,584 4,636 4,832 4,922 5,108 5,411 5,630 5,821
Four engine 511 931 602 436 322 432 410 389 410 420 435 440 450 447 441 441
Three engine 173 659 994 1,347 1,488 1,438 1,376 1,381 1,292 1,236 1,210 1,212 1,224 1,238 1,181 1,103
Two engine 41 546 518 743 1,354 2,278 2,381 2,676 2,882 2,980 3,187 3,270 3,434 3,726 4,008 4,277
Turboprop, total 312 374 260 682 1,073 1,595 1,598 1,894 1,868 1,782 1,713 1,696 1,646 1,832 1,788 1,488
Four engine 215 110 68 92 108 88 75 107 102 87 81 56 45 39 28 31
Two engine 89 259 192 590 965 1,507 1,523 1,787 1,751 1,695 1,632 1,635 1,596 1,789 1,759 1,457
One engine 8 5 N N N N N N 15 0 0 5 5 4 1 0
Piston, total 1,067 153 114 595 436 329 283 847 721 824 748 739 728 751 688 589
Four engine 447 34 37 73 38 31 26 20 22 19 15 18 19 17 19 17
Three engine 590 110 69 N 4 6 5 5 0 5 1 7 4 3 3 3
Two engine 30 9 8 522 394 292 252 415 293 335 333 317 298 391 292 260
One engine N N N N N N N 407 406 465 399 397 407 340 374 309
Helicopter 21 16 7 2 5 11 6 133 124 128 118 121 134 117 122 37
GENERAL AVIATION (GENERAL FLEET)c 95,442 161,743 168,475 211,043 196,500 198,000 196,874 185,650 177,120 172,935 188,089 191,129 192,414 204,710 219,464 217,533
Fixed Wing d93,130 127,934 161,570 200,094 184,700 184,600 182,585 171,670 156,936 150,159 162,342 163,691 166,851 175,203 184,724 183,277
Turbojet, total N 950 1,776 2,992 4,100 4,100 4,126 4,004 3,663 3,914 4,559 4,424 5,178 6,066 7,120 7,001
Two engine N e822 e1,742 2,551 3,600 3,700 3,863 3,738 3,426 3,652 4,071 4,077 4,638 5,513 6,387 6,215
Other N 128 f34 441 50 400 263 266 237 262 488 347 539 552 733 786
Turboprop, total N 1,458 2,519 4,089 5,000 5,300 4,941 4,786 4,117 4,093 4,995 5,716 5,618 6,174 5,680 5,763
Two engine N 1,287 e2,486 3,966 4,900 4,900 4,415 4,187 3,443 3,605 4,295 4,917 4,939 5,076 4,641 5,040
One engine N 138 33 N N N N N 650 481 668 719 650 1,033 1,018 678
Other N 33 N 123 100 400 526 599 24 7 32 80 29 65 21 45
Piston, total 92556 125,526 157,275 193,013 175,600 175,200 173,518 162,880 149,156 142,152 152,788 153,551 156,055 162,963 171,924 170,513
Two engine e11,422 15,835 e20,331 24,366 22,100 21,100 20,551 17,966 15,626 14,750 15,706 16,082 15,938 18,659 20,930 20,951
One engine 81,134 109,492 136,944 168,435 153,400 154,000 152,836 144,837 133,516 127,351 137,049 137,401 140,038 144,234 150,886 149,422
Other N 199 N 212 100 100 131 77 14 51 33 68 79 70 108 140
Rotorcraft 1,503 2,255 4,073 6,001 6,000 6,900 6,238 5,979 4,721 4,728 5,830 6,570 6,786 7,425 7,448 7,150
Piston N 1,666 2,499 2,794 2,700 3,200 2,390 2,348 1,846 1,627 1,863 2,507 2,259 2,545 2,564 2,680
Turbine, total N 589 1,574 3,207 3,300 3,700 3,848 3,631 2,875 3,101 3,967 4,063 4,526 4,881 4,884 4,470
Multiengine N N N N N N N N 629 616 733 643 764 843 839 694
One engine N 589 N N N N N N 2,246 2,485 3,234 3,420 3,762 4,038 4,045 3,776
Other Aircraft 809 1,554 2,832 4,945 5,800 6,600 8,051 8,000 5,037 5,907 4,741 4,244 4,091 5,580 6,766 6,701
Gliders N N N N N N N N 1,814 2,976 2,182 1,934 2,016 2,105 2,041 2,041
Lighter-than-Air N N N N N N N N 3,223 2,931 2,559 2,310 2,075 3,475 4,725 4,660
Experimental N N N N N N N N 10,426 12,144 15,176 16,625 14,679 16,503 20,528 20,406
Amateur Built N N N N N N N N 6,171 8,833 9,328 11,566 10,261 13,189 16,858 16,739
Exhibition N N N N N N N N 1,868 637 2,245 2,094 1,798 1,630 1,999 1,973
Other N N N N N N N N 2,387 2,674 3,603 2,965 2,620 1,684 1,671 1,694

KEY: N = data are not available.

a Source reported rounded data for general aviation.

b Air carrier aircraft are aircraft carrying passengers or cargo for hire under 14 CFR 121 (large aircraft-more than 30 seats) and 14 CFR 135 (small aircraft-30 seats or less). This definition is more encompassing than that in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Aviation Forecast- jet aircraft, 60 seats or more carrying passengers or cargo for hire. Beginning in 1990, the number of aircraft is the monthly average reported in use for the last three months of the year. Prior to 1990, it was the number of aircraft reported in use during December of a given year.

c Columns may not add to totals due to estimation procedures. Beginning in 1993, excludes commuters. Prior to 1993, single engine turboprops were included in "Other turboprops"; single and multiengine turbine rotorcraft were not shown separately; gliders and lighter-than-air aircraft were combined into the "Other" category; and experimental aircraft were included in the appropriate aircraft type. For example, prior to 1993, the single engine piston aircraft type included both experimental and nonexperimental aircraft Starting in 1993, that aircraft type only includes nonexperimental aircraft. Due to changes in methodology beginning in 1995, estimates may not be comparable to those for 1994 and earlier years. Values for 1991 through 1994 were revised to reflect changes in adjustment for nonresponse bias.

d Total includes 574 turbine aircraft of unspecified subtype.

e Multiengine.

f Single-engine.

NOTES

Prior to 1970, aircraft counts included aircraft retained in FAA data systems until the owners requested that they be deregistered. As a result, thousands of aircraft that had been destroyed over the years remained in the system. Since 1970, annual verification of aircraft registrations is required. Failure to comply with this requirement leads to revocation of the registration certificate and exclusion of the aircraft from the official count of the following year. Listed engine configurations (e.g., two-, three-, multi-) represent all applicable combinations for each aircraft type. Totals may not agree with those in other tables as revisions to prior year data are reported at the aggregate level only.

SOURCES

Air carriers:

1965: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation, 1966 Edition. (Washington, DC: 1966), table 7.5.

1970: Ibid., Calendar Year 1971. (Washington, DC: 1972), table 5.5.

1975: Ibid., Calendar Year 1975. (Washington, DC: Dec. 31, 1975), table 5.3.

1980: Ibid., Calendar Year 1980. (Washington, DC: Dec. 31, 1980), table 5.2.

1985: Ibid., Calendar Year 1993. FAA-APO-95-5 (Washington, DC: 1995), table 5.2.

1990-94: Ibid., Calendar Year 1996, Internet site: http://www.api.faa.gov/handbook96/toc96.htm, as of Mar. 31, 2000, table 5.2.

1995-2000: Aerospace Industries Association, Aerospace Facts and Figures (Washington DC: 2001/2002), "Active U.S. Air Carrier Fleet."

General aviation:

1965: U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA Statistical Handbook of Aviation, 1966 Edition. (Washington, DC: 1966), table 5.1.

1970: Ibid., Calendar Year 1971. (Washington, DC: 1972), table 8.3.

1975: Ibid., Calendar Year 1975. (Washington, DC: Dec. 31, 1975), table 8.4.

1980: Ibid., General Aviation Activity and Avionics Survey, Annual Report Calendar Year 1980, FAA-MS-81-5 (Washington, DC: December 1985), table 2-6.

1985: Ibid., Annual Summary Report 1994 Data, FAA-APO-95-10 (Washington, DC: 1996), table 1.2.

1990-2000: Ibid., General Aviation and Air Taxi Activity Survey, Calendar Year 2000 (Washington, DC: 2002), table 1.2 and similar tables in earlier editions.