WHO GOES UP?
More than 8,000 county residents are licensed pilots. The largest group, making up half the total, hold private licenses, while about half as many, 23%, are still students. Those with private licenses may operate aircraft for recreational purposes or in their own business; commercial licenses are required to operate an aircraft for hire. Airline transport certification is similar to a commercial rating, but allows the pilot to fly using only instruments.
TYPE OF LICENSE Total Airline City/Community Pilots Student Private Commercial Transport Anaheim 571 105 362 87 17 Brea 113 19 70 18 6 Buena Park 140 26 82 21 11 Capistrano Beach 35 5 15 9 6 Corona del Mar 136 12 64 30 30 Coto de Caza 12 2 9 1 0 Costa Mesa 411 77 189 75 70 Cypress 152 29 70 34 19 Dana Point 88 11 32 20 25 El Toro 273 36 90 92 55 Fountain Valley 197 77 92 17 11 Fullerton 362 65 198 72 27 Garden Grove 266 56 125 56 29 Huntington Beach 986 198 416 203 169 Irvine 592 175 263 133 21 Laguna Beach 185 67 84 21 13 Laguna Hills 187 49 102 19 17 Laguna Niguel 226 79 47 68 32 La Habra 106 14 60 24 8 Lake Forest 15 5 3 4 3 La Palma 33 11 14 6 2 Los Alamitos 95 18 40 17 20 Mission Viejo 475 98 297 47 33 Newport Beach 526 197 301 17 11 Orange 347 72 182 66 27 Placentia 105 28 52 17 8 Rancho Santa Margarita 30 9 18 2 1 Rossmoor 5 1 2 1 1 San Clemente 208 63 87 47 11 San Juan Capistrano 140 41 62 27 10 Santa Ana 404 27 283 77 17 Seal Beach 105 22 49 21 13 Silverado Canyon 7 2 4 1 0 Stanton 38 8 22 6 2 Sunset Beach 20 7 8 2 3 Surfside 7 1 1 3 2 Trabuco Canyon 31 12 17 1 1 Tustin 158 52 63 37 6 Villa Park 65 9 47 7 2 Westminster 194 56 103 17 18 Yorba Linda 179 57 63 33 26 COUNTY TOTAL 8,225 1,898 4,088 1,456 783
AIRCRAFT OWNERSHIP
More of the nearly 2,500 locally owned airplanes are registered in Huntington Beach than in any other city. Santa Ana is a close second. Huntington Beach is the home of record for the most planes owned by individuals as well as the most overall. Santa Ana claims the most corporate planes.
Total TYPE OF OWNERSHIP City/ Planes * **Co- Community Owned Individual Ownership Partnership Corporation Anaheim 184 91 52 9 30 Brea 47 24 11 4 8 Buena Park 45 26 11 2 6 Capistrano Beach 8 7 1 0 0 Corona del Mar 43 31 9 2 1 Costa Mesa 140 73 33 7 25 Coto de Caza 4 4 0 0 0 Cypress 48 31 11 2 4 Dana Point 17 15 2 0 0 El Toro 35 21 8 1 4 Fountain Valley 41 23 11 2 5 Fullerton 167 84 48 11 24 Garden Grove 97 54 26 10 7 Huntington Beach 240 128 70 15 25 Irvine 136 54 32 13 37 Laguna Beach 37 24 8 2 3 Laguna Hills 22 7 7 3 5 Laguna Niguel 30 16 12 0 2 La Habra 47 24 19 0 4 Lake Forest 2 1 1 0 0 La Palma 15 6 8 0 1 Los Alamitos 30 12 8 4 4 Midway City 3 3 0 0 0 Mission Viejo 73 38 25 5 5 Newport Beach 192 104 34 16 35 Orange 107 51 31 9 16 Placentia 29 14 11 1 3 Rancho Santa Margarita 1 1 0 0 0 Rossmoor 2 1 1 0 0 San Clemente 42 24 12 2 4 San Juan Capistrano 33 19 9 2 3 Santa Ana 238 118 54 11 50 Seal Beach 29 20 6 0 3 Silverado 2 2 0 0 0 South Laguna 8 4 3 1 0 Stanton 21 9 6 2 4 Sunset Beach 6 3 3 0 0 Trabuco Canyon 8 4 1 1 2 Tustin 53 25 17 1 10 Villa Park 30 13 9 1 7 Westminster 68 41 20 4 3 Yorba Linda 53 33 19 0 1 COUNTY TOTAL 2,433 1,283 649 143 341
City/ *** Community Government Anaheim 2 Brea 0 Buena Park 0 Capistrano Beach 0 Corona del Mar 0 Costa Mesa 2 Coto de Caza 0 Cypress 0 Dana Point 0 El Toro 1 Fountain Valley 0 Fullerton 0 Garden Grove 0 Huntington Beach 2 Irvine 0 Laguna Beach 0 Laguna Hills 0 Laguna Niguel 0 La Habra 0 Lake Forest 0 La Palma 0 Los Alamitos 2 Midway City 0 Mission Viejo 0 Newport Beach 3 Orange 0 Placentia 0 Rancho Santa Margarita 0 Rossmoor 0 San Clemente 0 San Juan Capistrano 0 Santa Ana 5 Seal Beach 0 Silverado 0 South Laguna 0 Stanton 0 Sunset Beach 0 Trabuco Canyon 0 Tustin 0 Villa Park 0 Westminster 0 Yorba Linda 0 COUNTY TOTAL 17
* Two owners
** More than two owners
*** Non-military
Source: Federal Aviation Administration