By JAMAIL LARKINS
Aviation is on the rise. At least, that’s what the surface level view of the numbers would lead you to believe.
The FAA saw a 20% increase in student pilot certificates in 2023 over 2022. A total of 69,503 new pilots started flight training. That’s great news for the entire aviation community.
Now, let’s talk about reality: That optimistic data point is more than offset by the gloom-ridden statistic that 80% of those excited newcomers are expected to quit flying before they finish their flight training. That means only 13,900 new pilots are expected to continue their pilot journey.
Our country’s largest aircraft manufacturer, Boeing, believes 649,000 new pilots are needed over the next 20 years to maintain demand for commercial aircraft operations — roughly three times the number of new pilots who are actually obtaining their pilot certificates.
To further enhance the human resource problem, Boeing’s number doesn’t include the amount of pilots needed to operate business and corporate aircraft in the United States.
If we are going to meet that demand, the aviation industry is going to need to correct some problems in flight training.
In addition to my intense passion for flying, I absolutely love data research. I can easily spend hours consuming research on a variety of topics that pique my interest. That inevitably leads to wondering why 80% of student pilots quit before earning their wings.
Frequently, this feels more like a curse than a blessing, because I’m not able to answer these questions solely on my own. That leads me to social media, where I can ask a large number of people their thoughts.
That’s what lead me to a recent social media post asking current and prospective pilots their reasons for quitting or the major hurdles that almost prevented them from completing their flight training. Within days, I received hundreds of responses.
There were three sweeping themes woven into the mostly passionate, yet somewhat battered, responses.
No. 1: The Cost of Flight Training
But the #1 issue that was shouted over the internet was the cost of flight training.
There is no doubt aviation is an expensive hobby or career to start. Pilots who want to fly for fun are spending between $15,000 to $20,000 to earn their private pilot certificates.
Aspiring professional pilots face an even higher sticker shock: To earn all their ratings, they are looking at an investment between $70,000 to $120,000.
The good news is that there are plenty of options to reduce that capital investment.
Just ask Johnathan Metsker, 17, from Bolivar, Missouri. He paid for the majority of his private pilot ticket by working at his local airport detailing airplanes. He also applied for the Ray Scholarship from the Experimental Aircraft Association and the Ray Foundation. Ray Scholars can receive up to $12,000 for their private pilot certificates.
And what’s interesting is that the mentoring the Ray Scholars received from EAA and their local EAA chapters improve flight training success rates substantially. It actually flips the script: A full 80% of all Ray Scholars complete their flight training and earn a private pilot certificate.
In addition to EAA, many aviation associations are doing their best to foster the growth of the aviation industry.
For example, the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association is providing more than $2.2 million in flight training scholarships in 2025. While slightly more than half of AOPA’s flight training scholarships go towards high school students, that still leaves a significant amount of money for a slightly more mature audience that would like to expand their horizons in aviation.
AOPA’s flight training scholarships not only cover your initial private pilot certificate, but can also be used for advanced flight training — everything from your instrument rating, seaplane rating, or even a tailwheel endorsement.
While EAA and AOPA have the largest scholarship funds, there are many other organizations that are helping the cause, including the Aircraft Electronics Association, the National Business Aviation Association, the University Aviation Association, Women in Aviation, the National Gay Pilots Association, the Organization of Black Airline Pilots, and many more organizations that offer scholarships that help make people’s dreams of flight a reality.
All of these organizations require you to put in some legwork, filling out applications, obtaining reference letters, personal interviews and more, but if you need financial assistance to overcome the No. 1 obstacle in flight training, these are some really solid opportunities.
I recently launched a database of more than $20 million in aviation scholarships that is free to use. Check it out at AviationStart.org.
I would love to hear from more pilots on their flight training journeys, so if you are willing to share, please let me know. You can search Jamail Larkins on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube. Or feel free to share your feedback at JamailLarkinsAviation.com.
Look for the #2 reason and the #3 reason people quit flight training in upcoming posts.
