Larry Dighera writes:

Could it be that Americans are working longer hours?

That is certainly part of it. Americans work a lot harder than they used to,
and they are making less money in return (in constant dollars). The number of
people who just scrape by is much greater than it was 40 years ago, especially
in the withering middle class.

And is it possible that the increase in hours worked don't equate to
more disposable income?

Absolutely.

Forty years ago there was an affluent and very large middle class in the
United States that had the money and time for things like flying in many
cases. Today that class is vanishing.

The much smaller class of people who can afford to fly today may still be
discouraged by the tremendous barriers to entry into the hobby, as compared to
other hobbies. It is ridiculously difficult to become a private pilot, and
unless one is among the very tiny minority of people who are truly obsessed
with flying, there are many other hobbies that provide similar levels of
satisfaction for far less money and with far less hassle and red tape.

And although some will flame me for this, simulation still enters into the
picture. I note that the number of people interested in online simulation of
flight is greater in Europe than in the United States, and I think the main
reason for that is simply that it's even more difficult to become a private
pilot outside the USA than it is inside the USA. The more difficult it is,
the more likely people are to settle for simulation to satisfy an interest in
aviation, just as the cost and hassle of Formula 1 racing or the sheer
unlikelihood of being drafted onto a football team leads many people to
simulation.

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