To find the ratio of the number of occupied seats to the number of empty seats on the airplane, we first need to determine the number of occupied seats.
The total number of seats is 50, and if 16 of these seats are empty, then the number of occupied seats is:
\[ \text{Occupied Seats} = \text{Total Seats} - \text{Empty Seats} = 50 - 16 = 34 \]
Now we can express the ratio of the number of occupied seats to the number of empty seats:
\[ \text{Ratio} = \frac{\text{Occupied Seats}}{\text{Empty Seats}} = \frac{34}{16} \]
We can simplify this fraction by dividing both the numerator and the denominator by their greatest common divisor, which is 2:
\[ \frac{34 \div 2}{16 \div 2} = \frac{17}{8} \]
Thus, the ratio of the number of occupied seats to the number of empty seats is:
\[ \boxed{\frac{17}{8}} \]