Dallas wrote:
It's hard to believe the number is so low...

As of the end of 2006, there were 597,109 active pilots, according to
the AOPA Jan. 12, 07 newsletter which cites the FAA's estimates. This
number has been declining slowly over the long term, down from a high
of over 827,000 pilots in 1980. The numbers include:

84,866 student pilots
242 recreational pilots
939 sport pilots
236,147 private pilots
130,234 commercial pilots
144,681 airline transport pilots
Within those groups, there we

37, 837 glider pilots
10,511 balloon pilots
41,306 rotor (helicopter) pilots

An active pilot is defined as one who holds both a pilot certificate
and a valid medical certificate, so this value omits pilots who do
not have a medical certificate (particularly glider and sport pilots).

There are 3 numbers above that interest me. The number of student pilots is
important. Those are folks that wanted to fly enough to at least start the
process. I'd really like to see the percentage of that 84,866 end up with a
certificate. The AOPA should start a program to contact those that don't an
find out why they didn't finish.

The other two numbers I find interesting are the rec and sports pilots. The
recreational pilot program has been around for years but in just a few the
sport pilot program has more than tripled it's numbers.