Number of Pilots Dimenish, but CFI's go up! X-post

[sheldon957]

Number of Pilots Dimenish, but CFI's go up!

We have all heard how the number of pilots is going down every year, and here is the FAA stats to prove it.

http://www.faa.gov/data_statistics/...ivil_airmen_statistics/2007/media/07-air1.xlshttp://www.faa.gov/data_statistics/a...ia/07-air1.xls

But the thing that I noticed, is the number of CFI's has gone up EVERY year in the table, while the number of pilots has gone down.

From the high in 1999 until 2000, the number of pilots decreased from 635,472 to 590,349, roughly a 7% decrease. The number of CFI's increased from 79,694 to 92,179, almost a 16% increase. Roughly, 1 out of 8 pilots in 1999 was a CFI, or 12.5% of the pilot population. In 2007, 1 out of 6 were CFI or 16%.

The number of students also fell during that time from 97,359 to 84,339, about a 13½% decrease.

In 2003, there was approximately 1 CFI for every student. In 2007 CFI's outnumber students by 10%. I realize that many CFI's no longer teach, and many may have never taught at all, but the numbers are odd.

No wonder CFI's don't earn much. Too many of them. And I am trying to join the ranks. Also, I am not looking just to build time and jump to some airline job like 90% of CFI's are. I would just like to teach, for teaching's sake, to add pilots to our ranks.

 

[KennyFlys]

What we'll never know is how many of those instructor certificates are not being used. Quite a few maintain currency but do not instruct while others have stopped instructing having gone on to the airlines.

 

[Dave Krall CFII]

With the NAFI people I've talked with over the years in the Master CFI program, a figure of about 15,000 active CFIs repeatedly comes up...

 

[Tristar]

It really depends on where you're at too. The colleges are begging for CFIs but some of the smaller towns with CFIs that fly for fun can sometimes become competitive. This is especially noticeable if the amount of aircraft available is low.

 

[wanttaja]

Having a single-seat airplane, I've taken my BFRs in the local FBO's 172 for the past 20 years. I've never seen the same CFI twice...and don't even see the last person's name up on the board the next time I show up. They get their CFI, they get hired at the FBO, then they teach until they've got enough hours to be hired by the airlines.

That would certainly explain why the percentage of CFIs is increasing....

Ron Wanttaja

 

[Ted]

I think Ron's got it, a lot of people seem to get CFIs merely as a way to build hours, and then stop using it once they've built the appropriate number of hours.

Me? I want to get my CFI to share something I love with others, certainly not as my primary mode of income. The interesting thing in my case, is I've got several people lined up already who are waiting to learn from me who otherwise might not bother learning to fly at all. So, theoretically as a CFI in my case I'll be adding pilots to the ranks who otherwise would not have learned to fly at all. What they'll do with their pilot's licenses afterwards is another matter entirely.

When I was looking for an instructor in September, I didn't have any real shortage to choose from. In my flying club we have two CFIs, and there are two others at the airport. The thing is, out of those four there is only one who I actually wanted to learn from. He's the one who seems to get the most students. However, he's also busy enough that some other people I know who want to learn to fly (and one who's post-solo and hasn't finished) have gotten discouraged because he hasn't been available enough for them. I'm hoping that when I get my CFI, my availability will be higher, and so I'll get some of these people back into flying, or into it in the first place.

 

[Dean]

What we'll never know is how many of those instructor certificates are not being used. Quite a few maintain currency but do not instruct while others have stopped instructing having gone on to the airlines.

That is true, the two instructors I had during my Private have kept current, but have stopped instructing. One flies for the Airlines and the other is a Charter pilot.

 

[billwil]

So...does anyone know if these numbers are snapshots (a point in time), or do they reflect all during the year. For example, are they showing the number of student pilot licenses issued that year...or the number a student pilots on a certain date. I ask because that changes the ramifications of the ratio of student pilots to pilots and student pilots to CFIs. It would be interesting to know the number of issuances of new student licenses (starts) and the number of pilot licenses issued. This would give a clearer picture of where we are headed. I'm sure those stats are out there...just too busy right now to go look (but not too busy to catch up on the forums .

 

[mikea]

There's a financial company running a TV ad that says there are 200-something-thousand pilots. If you can't trust an ad... If you can't trust a financial company's numbers....

 

[Dean]

So...does anyone know if these numbers are snapshots (a point in time), or do they reflect all during the year. For example, are they showing the number of student pilot licenses issued that year...or the number a student pilots on a certain date. I ask because that changes the ramifications of the ratio of student pilots to pilots and student pilots to CFIs. It would be interesting to know the number of issuances of new student licenses (starts) and the number of pilot licenses issued. This would give a clearer picture of where we are headed. I'm sure those stats are out there...just too busy right now to go look (but not too busy to catch up on the forums .

I would also like to know how many student pilots finish comparied to the amount of student pilot certificates that are issued.
Where I did my training about 60% got their PP and 20% went on to get their IFR and Comm.