FAA Airworthiness Directives by Year
This timeline shows how many unique, inspectable FAA Airworthiness Directive identifiers in this index were issued each year. It covers 19,239 ADs from 1941 through 2026.
Annual issuance history
- Annual AD count
- Trailing five-year average
- Current partial year
Peak: 2000, 568 ADs 2026 partial: 169 ADs through Jul 10, 2026
Annual counts table
| Year | ADs |
|---|---|
| 1941 | 1 |
| 1942 | 0 |
| 1943 | 2 |
| 1944 | 3 |
| 1945 | 1 |
| 1946 | 66 |
| 1947 | 243 |
| 1948 | 99 |
| 1949 | 54 |
| 1950 | 43 |
| 1951 | 54 |
| 1952 | 58 |
| 1953 | 37 |
| 1954 | 34 |
| 1955 | 46 |
| 1956 | 53 |
| 1957 | 53 |
| 1958 | 71 |
| 1959 | 90 |
| 1960 | 96 |
| 1961 | 81 |
| 1962 | 90 |
| 1963 | 87 |
| 1964 | 108 |
| 1965 | 84 |
| 1966 | 81 |
| 1967 | 142 |
| 1968 | 111 |
| 1969 | 128 |
| 1970 | 143 |
| 1971 | 126 |
| 1972 | 121 |
| 1973 | 118 |
| 1974 | 167 |
| 1975 | 275 |
| 1976 | 199 |
| 1977 | 190 |
| 1978 | 187 |
| 1979 | 170 |
| 1980 | 221 |
| 1981 | 179 |
| 1982 | 170 |
| 1983 | 166 |
| 1984 | 131 |
| 1985 | 179 |
| 1986 | 205 |
| 1987 | 215 |
| 1988 | 176 |
| 1989 | 212 |
| 1990 | 276 |
| 1991 | 278 |
| 1992 | 257 |
| 1993 | 236 |
| 1994 | 247 |
| 1995 | 273 |
| 1996 | 292 |
| 1997 | 294 |
| 1998 | 562 |
| 1999 | 382 |
| 2000 | 568 |
| 2001 | 511 |
| 2002 | 405 |
| 2003 | 398 |
| 2004 | 503 |
| 2005 | 508 |
| 2006 | 425 |
| 2007 | 451 |
| 2008 | 463 |
| 2009 | 358 |
| 2010 | 388 |
| 2011 | 346 |
| 2012 | 395 |
| 2013 | 399 |
| 2014 | 336 |
| 2015 | 292 |
| 2016 | 404 |
| 2017 | 370 |
| 2018 | 392 |
| 2019 | 298 |
| 2020 | 374 |
| 2021 | 504 |
| 2022 | 400 |
| 2023 | 350 |
| 2024 | 267 |
| 2025 | 302 |
| 2026 (partial) | 169 |
What the timeline shows
The highest annual count in this index is 568 ADs in 2000. The trailing five-year line smooths annual variation and stops at 2025, the last complete year.
2026 currently has 169 ADs. That bar is marked partial because the year is still in progress, so it should not be compared with completed years as though it were final.
Methodology
- Year means the issuance year encoded in the FAA AD identifier, not the document's effective date.
- Each unique inspectable identifier is counted once. Revision identifiers and temporary AD identifiers are included separately.
- All historical statuses are included, including superseded and rescinded ADs.
- Years with no matching ADs remain in the series with a count of zero.
- Excluded from this view: 2,130 amendment or document placeholder identifiers, 1 non-AD note, and 10 records without a backing document.
Calculated from the live index on July 10, 2026. Aggregates are cached for up to six hours.
Sources and attribution
Source records in this index come from the FAA Dynamic Regulatory System → and the Federal Register →. FAA and Federal Register records are U.S. Government works. The official source remains authoritative.
Use and verification
This site provides access to publicly available FAA documents for informational purposes only. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an official source of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). This tool does not constitute legal advice. Do not rely solely on this tool for compliance decisions. Always verify information against official FAA sources. Document accuracy depends on source quality and extraction processes.