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According to the FAA’s 2015 U.S. Civil Airmen Statistics report, the estimated total number of pilots and instrument-rated pilots has been in decline for more than a decade.

In 2003, 537,405 airline and commercial pilots were recorded, nearly 76,000 more than the 461,638 recorded in December of last year.

The report also shows that the average age of airline pilots has increased from 47 to 50 in that period of time.

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