General Aviation Profile
General Aviation Profile
FINANCIAL | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Expenditures, total ($ millions) | 895 | 2,035 | 8,053 | 9,907 | 9,332 | 10,379 | 11,605 | 13,797 | 16,372 | 17,553 | U |
Aircraft1 | 202 | 339 | 2,853 | 3,398 | 3,910 | 4,260 | 5,298 | 7,174 | 9,573 | 11,262 | U |
Operating costs | 693 | 1,696 | 5,200 | 6,509 | 5,422 | 6,119 | 6,307 | 6,623 | 6,799 | 6,291 | U |
INVENTORY | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of active aircraft by primary use, total | 76,549 | 131,743 | 211,045 | 196,800 | 172,400 | 188,100 | 187,200 | 192,359 | 204,712 | 219,464 | 217,533 |
Corporate2 | N | 6,835 | 14,860 | 10,100 | 9,400 | 9,800 | 9,300 | 10,411 | 11,250 | 10,804 | 11,003 |
Business | N | 26,900 | 49,391 | 33,100 | 26,500 | 26,200 | 28,200 | 27,716 | 32,611 | 24,543 | 25,169 |
Instructional | N | 10,727 | 14,862 | 18,600 | 15,000 | 14,800 | 14,300 | 14,663 | 11,375 | 16,081 | 14,883 |
Personal | N | 65,398 | 96,222 | 112,600 | 102,500 | 109,300 | 109,600 | 115,630 | 124,347 | 147,085 | 148,192 |
Aerial application | N | 5,455 | 7,294 | 6,200 | 4,300 | 5,100 | 5,400 | 4,858 | 4,550 | 4,254 | 4,294 |
Aerial observation | N | N | N | 4,900 | 5,100 | 4,700 | 3,200 | 3,311 | 3,242 | 3,240 | 5,093 |
External load | N | N | N | N | 100 | 200 | 400 | 186 | 313 | 190 | 234 |
Other worka | N | 2,054 | 2,813 | 1,400 | 1,200 | 1,100 | 1,100 | 579 | 1,116 | 2,363 | 1,787 |
Air taxi / air toursb | N | N | N | 5,800 | 3,800 | 4,100 | 3,900 | 4,948 | 5,190 | 4,569 | 4,019 |
Sightseeingc | N | N | N | N | 1,300 | 900 | 900 | 677 | 679 | 832 | 881 |
Otherd | N | 8,249 | 17,045 | 4,100 | 4,200 | 6,300 | 6,700 | 5,250 | 6,010 | 1,200 | 1,952 |
Public use | N | N | N | N | N | N | 4,200 | 4,130 | 4,029 | 4,138 | j N |
PERFORMANCE | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of flight hours by actual use, total (thousands) | 13,121 | 26,030 | 36,430 | 30,763 | 24,092 | 25,667 | 26,100 | 27,713 | 28,100 | 31,756 | 30,975 |
Corporate3 | N | N | 5,332 | 2,913 | 2,486 | 2,869 | 2,718 | 2,878 | 3,213 | 3,616 | 3,458 |
Business | 3 5,699 | 3 7,204 | 8,434 | 4,417 | 3,012 | 3,191 | 3,152 | 3,006 | 3,523 | 3,598 | 3,670 |
Instructional | 1,828 | 6,791 | 5,748 | 7,244 | 4,156 | 4,106 | 4,425 | 4,956 | 3,961 | 5,893 | 5,369 |
Personal | 3,172 | 6,896 | 8,894 | 9,276 | 8,248 | 9,320 | 8,893 | 9,644 | 9,781 | 11,294 | 11,699 |
Aerial application | N | N | 2,044 | 1,872 | 1,364 | 1,557 | 1,787 | 1,562 | 1,306 | 1,415 | 1,401 |
Aerial observation | N | N | N | 1,745 | 1,746 | 1,385 | 1,036 | 1,261 | 812 | 1,243 | 1,632 |
External load | N | N | N | N | 135 | 118 | 203 | 112 | 153 | 128 | 171 |
Other worka | N | N | 1,053 | 572 | 241 | 268 | 262 | 139 | 286 | 613 | 506 |
Air taxi / air toursb | N | N | N | 2,249 | 1,545 | 1,527 | 1,773 | 2,120 | 2,583 | 2,043 | 2,196 |
Sightseeingc | N | N | N | N | 309 | 206 | 186 | 127 | 169 | 220 | 198 |
Otherd | 2,422 | 5,139 | 4,925 | 475 | 622 | 1,121 | 644 | 819 | 940 | 581 | 675 |
Public usee | N | N | N | N | N | N | 1,021 | 1,096 | 1,373 | 1,111 | j N |
Vehicle-milesf (millions) | 5 1,769 | 5 3,207 | 5 5,204 | 5 4,548 | 5 3,358 | 5 3,795 | 5 3,524 | 5 3,877 | U | U | U |
Passenger-milesf,1 (millions) | 2,300 | 9,100 | 14,700 | 13,000 | 9,800 | 10,800 | 12,000 | 12,500 | 13,100 | 13,500 | U |
Fuel consumedf (million gallons) | 6 242 | 6 759 | 6 1,286 | 6 1,016 | 9 731 | 9 847 | 9 896 | 9 934 | 9 1,126 | 9 1,313 | 9 1,335 |
Aviation gasoline | 242 | 551 | 520 | 353 | 266 | 287 | 289 | 292 | 311 | 345 | 337 |
Jet fuel | N | 208 | 766 | 663 | 464 | 560 | 608 | 642 | 815 | 967 | 998 |
SAFETY | 1960 | 1970 | 1980 | 1990 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fatalitiesg, total | 7 787 | 1,310 | 1,239 | 767 | R730 | R735 | R636 | R631 | R624 | R619 | R593 |
Corporate | N | 7 28 | 8 66 | 8 21 | R,10 6 | 10 15 | 10 20 | 10 3 | 10 0 | 10 30 | 10 13 |
Business | N | 148 | 126 | 80 | 64 | 73 | 44 | 45 | 42 | 55 | 43 |
Instructional | N | 93 | 73 | 62 | 47 | 44 | 40 | 38 | 38 | 38 | 64 |
Personal | N | 726 | 808 | 492 | 472 | 488 | 413 | 432 | 432 | R383 | 386 |
Aerial application | N | 41 | 32 | 17 | 17 | 15 | 10 | 17 | 6 | 14 | 19 |
Other | N | 174 | 134 | 95 | R138 | R112 | R119 | 106 | R112 | R105 | 87 |
Accidents, total | 4,793 | 4,712 | 3,590 | R2,241 | R2,022 | R2,056 | R1,908 | R1,845 | R1,904 | R1,906 | 1,838 |
Fatal4 | 429 | 641 | 618 | 443 | 403 | R413 | R361 | R350 | R364 | R340 | 343 |
Accident rateh,I (per 100,000 flight hours) | 36.5 | 18.1 | 9.9 | R7.3 | R8.4 | 8.0 | 7.3 | 6.7 | 6.8 | 6.0 | 5.9 |
Fatal | 3.3 | 2.5 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 1.7 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
KEY: N = data do not exist; 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 Significant decrease in "Other" can be attributed to a redefining of the category to only include "Aerial Other" and "Medical Use."
e Federal, state or local government-owned or leased aircraft used for the purpose of fulfilling a government position.
f Includes air taxi operations. Nautical miles in source multiplied by 1.151 to convert from nautical miles.
g Sum of fatalities does not necessarily equal total. Differences are due to methodology used to count collisions involving aircraft in different categories.
h Suicide/sabotage cases are included in accidents and fatalities data but are excluded from accident rates.
i Accident rates are calculated by BTS using the formula: Accident Rates (per 100,000 flight hours) = Fatalities/Flight Hours*100.
j Beginning in 2000, "Public Use" was included in "Other Work".
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.
1 Eno Transportation Foundation, Inc., Transportation in America, Annual Issues (Washington, DC), pp. 8-11, 14-15.
2 United States. Federal Aviation Administration, General Aviation and Air Taxi Activity and Avionics Survey (Washington, DC: 1990-2000 issues), table 1.1.
3 Ibid., table 1.6 and similar tables in earlier editions.
4 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). Internet site http://www.ntsb.gov/aviation/ as of Sept. 9, 2002, table 10.
5 United States. Federal Aviation Administration, General Aviation and Air Taxi Activity and Avionics Survey (Washington, DC: 1990-2000 issues), table 3.3 and similar tables in earlier editions.
6 Ibid., table 5.1.
7 National Transportation Safety Board, RE-50, personal communication.
8 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.
9 U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA Aerospace Forecasts, Fiscal Years 2002-2013 (Washington, DC: March 2002), table 30.
10 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), personal communication, Sept. 10, 2002.