How many people are in the air at a given time?
May 10, 2009, 2:51 am
#1
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How many people are in the air at a given time?
Whilst travelling from JFK to LHR a couple of days ago I was wondering...approximately how many people in the world were in the air at that point in time? Has anybody thought the same and more importantly has anybody got any idea? @:-) Danny
May 10, 2009, 5:11 am
#2
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I read once that at any point in the day, 24 hours a day, every minute there are something like 3,000 Boeing aircraft in the air, all the time.
I know that's not what you asked, but I found it interesting nonetheless.
I know that's not what you asked, but I found it interesting nonetheless.
May 10, 2009, 11:50 am
#3
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May 10, 2009, 5:38 pm
#4
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A quick Google shows about 9000 Boeing commercial aircraft in service and 5100 from Airbus. So 14,100 airplanes, and I am going to guess that 75% of them are in the air at any given time and that each holds an average of 150 people. So:
1,586,250 people in the air.
Just a guess, but I imagine it is not too far off... certainly the figure is at least a million.
1,586,250 people in the air.
Just a guess, but I imagine it is not too far off... certainly the figure is at least a million.
May 10, 2009, 8:02 pm
#5
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You also have to consider load factors (~75-80%) and the glut of CRJs and ERJs in the world, among other manufacturers. There are a few Yak-42s still flying every day, though they represent a small number of total passengers.
May 10, 2009, 8:36 pm
#6
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Back in the heyday of science fiction this might have made a good plot line. Death ray hits the earth and only the people in the air survive.
May 10, 2009, 10:22 pm
#7
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Not all a/c are boeing/airbus. Plenty of regional jets and prop a/c.
May 11, 2009, 9:02 am
#8
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If we look at the 2008 statistics for the 30 busiest airports, we already arrive at a value of 1.4 billion passengers in one year.
Divide this by 365 and we're still looking at nearly 4 million passengers a day.
Granted, most of these won't be in the air "at the same time" since most flights are just 1-3 hours long, but the number is still pretty high for sure.
Divide this by 365 and we're still looking at nearly 4 million passengers a day.
Granted, most of these won't be in the air "at the same time" since most flights are just 1-3 hours long, but the number is still pretty high for sure.
May 11, 2009, 2:10 pm
#9
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Good question. TSA screens right at 2 million pax per day, and most are domestic, not international. Probably more weekdays, less weekends.
Google brings up an opposite of FT blog (
please don't tell them about a MR, flying to go nowhere 
) which mentions 300,000 over the US in 2005, which seems about right for a daytime hour if 2 million total fly. I'll guess US is half or more of world total, making 400,000 to 500,000 max in the air on a given day's peak hour, worldwide.
Google brings up an opposite of FT blog (
please don't tell them about a MR, flying to go nowhere ) which mentions 300,000 over the US in 2005, which seems about right for a daytime hour if 2 million total fly. I'll guess US is half or more of world total, making 400,000 to 500,000 max in the air on a given day's peak hour, worldwide.
Nov 29, 2017, 1:11 pm
#10
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Usually every day around the world 32505 the plane takes off and sits down.
This value is taken from the site flightradars24.de. There's also online radar and a lot of other information
This value is taken from the site flightradars24.de. There's also online radar and a lot of other information
Nov 29, 2017, 11:37 pm
#11
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Google brings up an opposite of FT blog ( please don't tell them about a MR, flying to go nowhere ) which mentions 300,000 over the US in 2005, which seems about right for a daytime hour if 2 million total fly. I'll guess US is half or more of world total, making 400,000 to 500,000 max in the air on a given day's peak hour, worldwide.
please don't tell them about a MR, flying to go nowhere ) which mentions 300,000 over the US in 2005, which seems about right for a daytime hour if 2 million total fly. I'll guess US is half or more of world total, making 400,000 to 500,000 max in the air on a given day's peak hour, worldwide.Edit: The US looks like it makes up about 25% of airline traffic - actually more than I had expected.
http://www.iata.org/pressroom/pr/Pag...-12-06-01.aspx
Nov 30, 2017, 3:35 am
#12
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EuropeanPete
You replied to a post from 2009 (~9 years ago)
You replied to a post from 2009 (~9 years ago)
Nov 30, 2017, 8:33 am
#13
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Moderator Note: Please repost the topic as a new thread. This one has aged out.