People Aloft - A Question for the Smart Folk Here!

[EarlJam]

So about a week ago, I was with a group of people out to eat. We were talking about jobs. One person mentioned aviation. As you may or may not know, I, EarlJam, love all things aviation. Anyway, he asked a question that 1) I found interesting and 2) I believe has come up before.

The question is: On average, how many human beings are "in the air" on planes, helecoptors, gliders and such.

The key to this is not having a foundation beneath you. In other words, being on the 98th floor of the Art Vandelay building does not count. I'm talking people in planes. In flight. People who are not connected to the Earth's surface.

Is there ANY way to come up with an educated guess here? C'mon. I know someone here can do it. Just off the cuff, I would guess the number to be around 898,976 at any given moment.

-EarlJam

[bjornolf]

So about a week ago, I was with a group of people out to eat. We were talking about jobs. One person mentioned aviation. As you may or may not know, I, EarlJam, love all things aviation. Anyway, he asked a question that 1) I found interesting and 2) I believe has come up before.

The question is: On average, how many human beings are "in the air" on planes, helecoptors, gliders and such.

The key to this is not having a foundation beneath you. In other words, being on the 98th floor of the Art Vandelay building does not count. I'm talking people in planes. In flight. People who are not connected to the Earth's surface.

Is there ANY way to come up with an educated guess here? C'mon. I know someone here can do it. Just off the cuff, I would guess the number to be around 898,976 at any given moment.

-EarlJam

US or the world/ On average or at this very moment?

[TillyGalore]

Art Vandelay building
-EarlJam

Would this be the building Art Vandelay designed?

[EarlJam]

So about a week ago, I was with a group of people out to eat. We were talking about jobs. One person mentioned aviation. As you may or may not know, I, EarlJam, love all things aviation. Anyway, he asked a question that 1) I found interesting and 2) I believe has come up before.

The question is: On average, how many human beings are "in the air" on planes, helecoptors, gliders and such.

The key to this is not having a foundation beneath you. In other words, being on the 98th floor of the Art Vandelay building does not count. I'm talking people in planes. In flight. People who are not connected to the Earth's surface.

Is there ANY way to come up with an educated guess here? C'mon. I know someone here can do it. Just off the cuff, I would guess the number to be around 898,976 at any given moment.

-EarlJam

In the World, on average.

-EJ



US or the world/ On average or at this very moment?

[DukeUsul]

Here's an off the cuff analysis.

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, in 2008 there were 1,072,417,542,000 revenue passenger miles flown. That's the number of revenue paying passengers times miles flown in the year. This would exclude pilots and airline staff. That would be about 2,938,130,252 revenue passenger miles per day.

They also report that there were 809,542,354 passengers total in the year. So dividing total RPM by the total passengers, we get 1342 as the average distance traveled by each passenger. What's the average airspeed of a passenger jet? Let's say 500 mph. So for that distance, the average passenger is in the air for 2.7 hrs.

809,542,354 / 365 / 24 gives us 92,413 as the total number of passengers in the air within a given hour of a day. Given that the average flight is longer than that hour, I don't think we'd need to divide that up any further.

http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Data_Elements.aspx?Data=1
http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Data_Elements.aspx?Data=3

I can't find it, but I suspect that data is just for passenger flights (domestic and international) to and from the US. So we'd need to increase this number to account for the rest of the world. The US has about 5% of the world population (300 million out of 6 billion). But flights to/from the US include non US citizens. And the rest of the world doesn't have the same level of flights we do. So does US travel account for 10% of world air travel? 20%? If it's 10%, then there would be 900,000 people in the air in any given hour. If it's 20%, then about 450,000 people up.

That's off the cuff. I have to think if there are any holes (ha ha) in that analysis.

[CathyCA]

Here's an off the cuff analysis.

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, in 2008 there were 1,072,417,542,000 revenue passenger miles flown. That's the number of revenue paying passengers times miles flown in the year. This would exclude pilots and airline staff. That would be about 2,938,130,252 revenue passenger miles per day.

They also report that there were 809,542,354 passengers total in the year. So dividing total RPM by the total passengers, we get 1342 as the average distance traveled by each passenger. What's the average airspeed of a passenger jet? Let's say 500 mph. So for that distance, the average passenger is in the air for 2.7 hrs.

809,542,354 / 365 / 24 gives us 92,413 as the total number of passengers in the air within a given hour of a day. Given that the average flight is longer than that hour, I don't think we'd need to divide that up any further.

http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Data_Elements.aspx?Data=1
http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Data_Elements.aspx?Data=3

I can't find it, but I suspect that data is just for passenger flights (domestic and international) to and from the US. So we'd need to increase this number to account for the rest of the world. The US has about 5% of the world population (300 million out of 6 billion). But flights to/from the US include non US citizens. And the rest of the world doesn't have the same level of flights we do. So does US travel account for 10% of world air travel? 20%? If it's 10%, then there would be 900,000 people in the air in any given hour. If it's 20%, then about 450,000 people up.

That's off the cuff. I have to think if there are any holes (ha ha) in that analysis.

You enjoyed physics class in high school, didn't you?

[Rolvix]

Too much math...

[cl15876]

Too much math...

Speed read buddy! 5% of US/(apparently according to DukeUsul) ... "possesses the quality mathematical skills in the world"... nothing to blink an eye at! Being able to claim/"be apart of" of the top 5% of the world is an impressive feet!!!!! Do it, let it transform you, I believe in you (from the other side) and will high 5 you when you cross over....

[Rolvix]

Too much math...

Speed read buddy! 5% of US/(apparently according to DukeUsul) ... "possesses the quality mathematical skills in the world"... nothing to blink an eye at! Being able to claim/"be apart of" of the top 5% of the world is an impressive feet!!!!! Do it, let it transform you, I believe in you (from the other side) and will high 5 you when you cross over....

Are you telling me to become an engineer?

[cl15876]

Too much math...

Speed read buddy! 5% of US/(apparently according to DukeUsul) ... "possesses the quality mathematical skills in the world"... nothing to blink an eye at! Being able to claim/"be apart of" of the top 5% of the world is an impressive feet!!!!! Do it, let it transform you, I believe in you (from the other side) and will high 5 you when you cross over....

Are you telling me to become an engineer?

Well.... NO (not necessarily), just exceed at Math... It IS a universal language and YOU WILL NEVER GO WRONG!!!!! Trust me!

[DukeUsul]

Here's an off the cuff analysis.

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, in 2008 there were 1,072,417,542,000 revenue passenger miles flown. That's the number of revenue paying passengers times miles flown in the year. This would exclude pilots and airline staff. That would be about 2,938,130,252 revenue passenger miles per day.

They also report that there were 809,542,354 passengers total in the year. So dividing total RPM by the total passengers, we get 1342 as the average distance traveled by each passenger. What's the average airspeed of a passenger jet? Let's say 500 mph. So for that distance, the average passenger is in the air for 2.7 hrs.

809,542,354 / 365 / 24 gives us 92,413 as the total number of passengers in the air within a given hour of a day. Given that the average flight is longer than that hour, I don't think we'd need to divide that up any further.

http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Data_Elements.aspx?Data=1
http://www.transtats.bts.gov/Data_Elements.aspx?Data=3

I can't find it, but I suspect that data is just for passenger flights (domestic and international) to and from the US. So we'd need to increase this number to account for the rest of the world. The US has about 5% of the world population (300 million out of 6 billion). But flights to/from the US include non US citizens. And the rest of the world doesn't have the same level of flights we do. So does US travel account for 10% of world air travel? 20%? If it's 10%, then there would be 900,000 people in the air in any given hour. If it's 20%, then about 450,000 people up.

That's off the cuff. I have to think if there are any holes (ha ha) in that analysis.

You enjoyed physics class in high school, didn't you?

Yup. Big time. I decided to major in physics in college because it was easy. I would have flunked out of sociology.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

You enjoyed physics class in high school, didn't you?

Yup. Big time. I decided to major in physics in college because it was easy. I would have flunked out of sociology.

Hey! I resemble that remark. That's why I got a degree in Engineering. And Rolvix, yes, you should transfer into the Pratt School of Engineering and get your BSE. You'll never regret it!