The fleet today
The FAA register holds 318,181 aircraft: 298,645 with a pilot or passengers on board and 19,536 drones. Piston singles are 66% of everything registered.
- Aircraft registered: 318,181 (FAA data of 2026-10-30)
- Of them drones: 19,536 (6% of the register)
- Median age of a manned aircraft: 47 years (built 1979; 57% are 40 or older)
By kind
Light piston aircraft dominate: 210,089 piston singles against 19,189 business jets and 9,674 airliners. The median age column says how old a typical aircraft of that kind is.
The table (14 rows)
| Kind | Aircraft | Share | Median age (years) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piston singles | 210089 | 66.0% | 51 |
| Drones | 19536 | 6.1% | 4 |
| Business jets | 19189 | 6.0% | 18 |
| Piston twins | 16223 | 5.1% | 51 |
| Helicopters | 15305 | 4.8% | 21 |
| Turboprops | 14395 | 4.5% | 22 |
| Airliners | 9674 | 3.0% | 16 |
| Balloons | 5278 | 1.7% | 22 |
| Gliders | 4769 | 1.5% | 45 |
| Light-sport aircraft | 2972 | 0.9% | 22 |
| Gyroplanes | 432 | 0.1% | 8 |
| Electric and eVTOL | 283 | 0.1% | 4 |
| Airships | 33 | 0.0% | 29 |
| Other | 3 | 0.0% | 9 |
By state
Texas leads with 29,945 registered aircraft, then California (27,686) and Florida (21,712). Delaware's count is inflated by aircraft registered through trusts and holding companies there. Click a state for its page.
The table (58 rows)
How old the fleet is
Of the 246,468 manned aircraft with a known year of manufacture, 140,190 (57%) are forty years old or more. The busiest building decades were the 1970s and 1960s; the chart shows how many aircraft from each decade are still registered.
52,177 aircraft have no year recorded, mostly amateur-built and older aircraft.
The table (13 rows)
| Decade built | Aircraft registered today |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 1 |
| 1910s | 32 |
| 1920s | 402 |
| 1930s | 1,591 |
| 1940s | 20,821 |
| 1950s | 16,103 |
| 1960s | 37,191 |
| 1970s | 49,351 |
| 1980s | 17,658 |
| 1990s | 17,675 |
| 2000s | 36,322 |
| 2010s | 27,060 |
| 2020s | 22,261 |
Year by year
Manned aircraft on the register today, by the year they were built (1930 onward).
The table (97 rows)
| Year built | Aircraft registered today |
|---|---|
| 2026 | 2,087 |
| 2025 | 3,724 |
| 2024 | 3,750 |
| 2023 | 3,843 |
| 2022 | 3,294 |
| 2021 | 2,897 |
| 2020 | 2,666 |
| 2019 | 3,079 |
| 2018 | 2,849 |
| 2017 | 2,789 |
| 2016 | 2,754 |
| 2015 | 2,885 |
| 2014 | 2,829 |
| 2013 | 2,641 |
| 2012 | 2,599 |
| 2011 | 2,338 |
| 2010 | 2,297 |
| 2009 | 2,580 |
| 2008 | 4,175 |
| 2007 | 4,737 |
| 2006 | 4,302 |
| 2005 | 3,920 |
| 2004 | 3,516 |
| 2003 | 3,116 |
| 2002 | 3,263 |
| 2001 | 3,361 |
| 2000 | 3,352 |
| 1999 | 3,022 |
| 1998 | 2,706 |
| 1997 | 2,063 |
| 1996 | 1,691 |
| 1995 | 1,489 |
| 1994 | 1,412 |
| 1993 | 1,373 |
| 1992 | 1,344 |
| 1991 | 1,396 |
| 1990 | 1,179 |
| 1989 | 1,110 |
| 1988 | 973 |
| 1987 | 877 |
| 1986 | 850 |
| 1985 | 1,344 |
| 1984 | 1,499 |
| 1983 | 1,393 |
| 1982 | 1,992 |
| 1981 | 3,840 |
| 1980 | 3,780 |
| 1979 | 6,435 |
| 1978 | 6,836 |
| 1977 | 6,404 |
| 1976 | 6,320 |
| 1975 | 5,297 |
| 1974 | 4,860 |
| 1973 | 4,727 |
| 1972 | 3,640 |
| 1971 | 2,537 |
| 1970 | 2,295 |
| 1969 | 4,260 |
| 1968 | 4,989 |
| 1967 | 4,722 |
| 1966 | 5,712 |
| 1965 | 4,358 |
| 1964 | 3,583 |
| 1963 | 2,686 |
| 1962 | 2,338 |
| 1961 | 2,238 |
| 1960 | 2,305 |
| 1959 | 2,695 |
| 1958 | 2,326 |
| 1957 | 1,918 |
| 1956 | 2,225 |
| 1955 | 1,571 |
| 1954 | 1,103 |
| 1953 | 1,303 |
| 1952 | 1,142 |
| 1951 | 797 |
| 1950 | 1,023 |
| 1949 | 1,010 |
| 1948 | 1,791 |
| 1947 | 3,424 |
| 1946 | 8,585 |
| 1945 | 725 |
| 1944 | 589 |
| 1943 | 1,069 |
| 1942 | 943 |
| 1941 | 1,566 |
| 1940 | 1,119 |
| 1939 | 471 |
| 1938 | 224 |
| 1937 | 204 |
| 1936 | 145 |
| 1935 | 83 |
| 1934 | 66 |
| 1933 | 59 |
| 1932 | 52 |
| 1931 | 142 |
| 1930 | 145 |
What powers them
79% of manned aircraft have piston engines.
The table (9 rows)
| Engine type | Aircraft |
|---|---|
| Piston | 236,345 |
| Turbofan or turbojet | 28,889 |
| Turboprop | 14,072 |
| Turboshaft (helicopter turbine) | 9,818 |
| None (gliders, balloons) | 9,150 |
| Electric | 293 |
| Rotary | 70 |
| Unknown | 5 |
| Ramjet | 3 |
Who owns them
41% of aircraft are registered to individuals; the rest to companies, co-owners, partnerships and government bodies. No owner is named on this site unless it is an organisation.
The table (9 rows)
| Owner type | Aircraft |
|---|---|
| Individual | 130,096 |
| LLC | 88,238 |
| Corporation | 61,562 |
| Co-owned | 25,792 |
| Government | 5,754 |
| Partnership | 3,089 |
| Non-citizen corporation | 2,256 |
| Not stated | 1,376 |
| Non-citizen co-owned | 18 |
Where the numbers come from
- FAA Civil Aviation Registry, releasable aircraft database, data of 2026-10-30
Computed once a night by this site from the public files named above; nothing here identifies a person. All analytics pages.