Part 107 drone certificates, which did not exist before 2016 and now outnumber every traditional certificate. Counted separately from crewed aviation throughout.
Active in 2025
492,311
Change vs 2024
+64,713
Since 2016
+2318%
History
2025492,311
2016 · 20,3622025 · 492,311
Last month
1,742 remote 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.