Air Charter Statistics

Detailed information for second quarter 2001

The survey collects origin and destination data for passenger and cargo charter operations of commercial air carriers offering charter services.

Data release - May 28, 2002

• Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s)
• Description
• Data sources and methodology
• Data accuracy

Description

The survey collects origin and destination data for passenger and cargo charter operations of commercial air carriers offering charter services. Data collected will be used to monitor the air industry, regulate international air services, ensure safety, plan and maintain the air transportation system and provide inputs into the system of national accounts and the Canadian Transportation Agency. Major carriers and tour operators also sometimes use the data for analytical purposes.

Statistical activity

This statistical activity is part of a set of surveys measuring various aspects of activities related to the movement of people and goods. These surveys are grouped as follows:

Transportation by air includes records related to the movement of aircraft, passengers and cargo by air for both Canadian and foreign air carriers operating in Canada as well as the financial and operating characteristics of Canadian air carriers. These data are produced by the Aviation Statistics Centre.

Transportation by rail includes records relating to rail transportation in Canada, and between the United States and Canada.

Transportation by road includes records relating to all road transport in Canada. In addition to surveying carriers and owners of registered motor vehicles, certain programs rely on aggregation of provincial and territorial administrative records.

Subjects

• Transportation
• Transportation by air

Data sources and methodology

Target population

The Air Charter survey covers Canadian and foreign air carriers that perform domestic or international commercial charter services using aircraft with a maximum take-off weight greater than 15,900 kgs. The survey also covers Canadian and foreign air carriers that perform commercial charter services between Canada and United States using aircrafts with a maximum take-off weight greater than 8,200 kgs.

Sampling

This survey is a census with a cross-sectional design.

Canada Transportation Act, Section 50 and Paragraph 86 (1) (i), require that air carriers report all charter activity between Canada and the United States using aircraft with maximum authorized take-off weight on wheels greater than 18,000 pounds and between Canada and all international and domestic points using maximum take-off weight on wheels greater than 35,000 pounds. Consequently small aircraft performing international charter service are not considered in this survey. In this publication passengers transported on a cargo charter do not appear. Therefore any incidental load of a type different from that being reported is disregarded. The most conspicuous or the most important charter qualifying conditions serve as the criteria for determining the type of resaleable charter. Qualifying conditions vary widely from country to country and charters are governed in most cases by the rules of the country from which the charter flight originates. As a result, only broad descriptions can accommodate the diverse requirements and restrictions that international charters are subject to in the country of origin. Load factors are rounded to the nearest percent.

Data sources

Responding to this survey is mandatory.

Data are collected directly from survey respondents.

The air carriers are required to complete and file Statement 2(I,II,III,IV,F) (Charter On-Flight Origin and Destination Report) with regard to all reportable domestic and international air charter activity 30 days after the month being reported. In most cases the data are compiled and the reports completed at the company head office. The forms (Statement 2) are then forwarded to the Aviation Statistics Centre where the data are edited and processed.

Data for this survey are collected monthly; however the data is disseminated quarterly.

View the Questionnaire(s) and reporting guide(s) .

Error detection

Upon receipt of the participating carriers' data, the Aviation Statistics Centre edits the data. The edits are performed to check the quality and legitimacy of the information contained within and among charter flights. Data are processed by computer. Monthly, quarterly and annual data are analyzed.

Air carriers must file their data in accordance with the reporting procedures prepared by the Aviation Statistics Centre. However, the quality of the data may be affected by non-sampling errors such as coverage error, response error or coding error.

The annual publication contains estimates; updates or late reports that are not included in the earlier released quarterly and annual printouts. For this reason, quarterly and annual data released prior to publication are considered preliminary, whereas the data presented in the publication are final. However, now and again, participating carriers refile or update previous data submissions. These revised or additional data are then incorporated into the Aviation Statistics Centre's database.

Estimation

Estimates are made at the level of the individual air carrier on the basis of observed performance under similar operating conditions.

Disclosure control

Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects which could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Various confidentiality rules are applied to all data that are released or published to prevent the publication or disclosure of any information deemed confidential. If necessary, data are suppressed to prevent direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data.

Data for a specific industry or variable may be suppressed (along with that of a second industry or variable) if the number of enterprises in the population is too low.

Revisions and seasonal adjustment

Quarterly estimates are provided for the most current quarter available. The data for the previous quarter are revised if necessary. Seasonal adjustments are not made to the data.

Data accuracy

While considerable effort is made to ensure high standards throughout all stages of collection and processing, the resulting estimates are inevitably subject to a certain degree of error. These errors can be broken down into two major types: non-sampling and sampling. Since the survey is a census of the target population, only non-sampling errors are possible.

Non-sampling errors may occur for many reasons. For example, non-response is an important source of non-sampling error. Population coverage, differences in the interpretation of questions, incorrect information from respondents, and mistakes in recording, coding and processing data are other examples of non-sampling errors.

Non-sampling errors are controlled through a careful design of the questionnaire, the use of a minimal number of simple concepts and consistency checks. Coverage error was minimized by using multiple sources to update the frame. Measures such as response rates are used as indicators of the possible extent of non-sampling errors.

Data presented by this survey are compiled from a wide variety of sources, directly from the carriers and from provincial and federal government departments. The data are considered of high quality.