In 2003, according to official statistics, there were about 30,000 people who held a licence enabling them to fly fixed wing aircraft. Every year, 2500 more people qualify as pilots, but the overall total of 30,000 doesn’t change that much. Why? One reason is that older pilots may fail their medical. Other people may simply give up. So this figure of 30,000 remains relatively constant.
Of these, about a third will also hold an ATPL (Airline Transport Pilots Licence), and this is out of a total UK population of sixty million.
The amount of female pilots is shockingly tiny. According to figures published by the CAA in March 2000, only 6% of PPL pilots are actually women, and for airline pilots, this figure reduces even further – with only 2%. Aviation, it would appear, is a male-dominated pastime. But we all knew that anyway.
Hope this helps
Flock1