Pilot Census
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Airline transport pilots

The ceiling certificate, required to captain an airliner. The ATP count is the closest thing to a measure of the airline hiring pool.

Active in 2025
181,742
Change vs 2024
+2,548
Since 2015
+17%

History

2015: 154,7302016: 157,8942017: 159,8252018: 162,1452019: 164,9472020: 164,1932021: 163,9342022: 166,7382023: 174,1132024: 179,1942025: 181,742
2025 181,742
2015 · 154,7302025 · 181,742

Last month

479 airline transport pilots appeared in the August 2026 releasable file that were not in July 2026. That file covers 47% of active pilots, and newly opted-in airmen look identical to newly certificated ones, so this is an upper bound on issuance rather than a count of it.

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