[Edgefly] "What about new licensees for Sport Pilots ?"
The FAA says that, as of the end of 2013, there are 4824 active Sport Pilot certificates held. The trend is interesting and informative. Beginning after 2005 there was an annual increase of ~600 new SPL issuances. In the later years, it ramped down to and has remained at ~400 issuances/year. In business terms, the SPL appears to be filling a niche market need but has never reflected a growing demand, even from when it was first offered.
http://www.faa.gov/data_research/aviati ... tics/2013/
Altho' it's been discussed here often, none of us have found a valid numerical estimate of the number of PPL and above pilots who are flying under SPL privileges. But looking at these same pilot numbers, I think we can draw a reasonable, educated conclusion. Removing rotorcraft, glider and student licenses (~150,000 licenses), we're left with a pool of ~450,000 pilot certificates that would be immediately, potentially eligible to transition to flying under SPL privileges. If only 1% of that population were doing so, that alone would roughly equate to all of the SPL licenses issued over the entire reported span the SPL was available.
You mentioned knowing several ATP rated pilots who are flying under SPL privileges. While anecdotal, that seems unremarkable There are 150,000 ATP rated pilots alone, and it's reasonable to assume that many (probably, most) of them have the discretionary income that would allow them to fly an a/c suitable for SPL privileges if they wished. My educated guess would be that well more than 1% of those 450,000 pilots eligible for SPL privileges are using them. Put differently, the SPL license has likely not served as the primary pathway into light sport aviation.
"The Sport Pilot certificate was created in September 2004. The intent of the new rule was to lower the barriers of entry into aviation and make flying more affordable and accessible." (From many references). The latter goal could apply to anyone who flies under SPL privileges, depending on the a/c chosen and how we define 'affordable'. But the reasonable conclusion is that the former goal isn't so much true as is the statement that the SPL has removed the barrier to licensed pilots remaining active in recreational aviation without holding a FAA medical certificate. Personally, I think that's a wonderful thing...but it is a little bit of the tail wagging the dog.