How many pilots, ever?

I've been trying to come up with some numbers that will impress upon
my son the stark rarity and unique nature of his accomplishment as a
new Private Pilot.


No doubt pilots are few but the small number of pilots isn't such a
big deal. What matters is how many out of those actively seeking pilot
training actually go on to become pilots. That is a far better
indicator of the difficulty involved in becoming a pilot than just the
total number of pilots. The very few private pilots in existence would
be very impressive if everybody in the US had a goal to get a PPL (and
most failed) which is not the case. From what I can tell, those that
show a little bit of inclination to weather the odds do indeed go on
to get their PPLs.

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...
I've been trying to come up with some numbers that will impress upon
my son the stark rarity and unique nature of his accomplishment as a
new Private Pilot.


No doubt pilots are few but the small number of pilots isn't such a
big deal. What matters is how many out of those actively seeking pilot
training actually go on to become pilots. That is a far better
indicator of the difficulty involved in becoming a pilot than just the
total number of pilots. The very few private pilots in existence would
be very impressive if everybody in the US had a goal to get a PPL (and
most failed) which is not the case. From what I can tell, those that
show a little bit of inclination to weather the odds do indeed go on
to get their PPLs.

No stats to support this, but I seem to remember reading here in the past
that out of all the individuals who get a student license, 90% drop out.
Out of those that get the PPL, 90% stop flying after 5 years.

No stats to support this, but I seem to remember reading here in the past
that out of all the individuals who get a student license, 90% drop out.
Out of those that get the PPL, 90% stop flying after 5 years.

I remember reading that too, I guess its possible. If 200,000 got
their PPLs this year in the US, then it would mean there were about 2
million student pilots, not outside the realms of plausibility.
I think there was another stat about how some pilots never flew again
after passing their checkrides.