Instructions to Air Carriers for Collecting and Reporting Revenue Passenger Origin-Destination Statistics

Statement 3(I,II)

1. Introduction

The Air Passenger Origin and Destination (POD) Survey is conducted continuously by all Canadian air carriers assigned to reporting Level I and Level II¹ that, in each of the two years immediately preceding the reporting year, enplaned 600,000 or more scheduled revenue passengers using fixed wing aircraft. The Aviation Statistics Centre (ASC) of Statistics Canada collects the data under the authority of the Statistics Act – RSC 1985, Chapter S19 and the Canada Transportation Act, Section 50, for the statistical purposes of both Statistics Canada and Transport Canada.

The POD Survey covers revenue passenger trips made in whole or in part on domestic and/or international scheduled flights. Carriers must report such trips if (i) they operated one or more segments of the itineraries and (ii) no other carrier participating in the survey operated any preceding segments. Reporting is based on information obtained from lifted flight coupons (or their electronic equivalent). The complete ticket itinerary is recorded as one entry for each trip showing the routing from the initial origin to the final ticket destination and including, in sequence, each point of intraline or interline transfer, the carrier (both operating and advertised for code share segments) and the fare basis code on each flight coupon stage as well as the total value of the ticket in Canadian dollars. Carriers reporting a 10% sample of their itineraries are to report only tickets with numbers ending in zero.

This document details the requirements of the POD Survey as well as the instructions on how the data are to be reported.

2. The Survey Universe

The POD Survey universe includes all revenue passenger trips moving in whole or in part on domestic and/or international scheduled flights operated by participating air carriers. All electronic tickets from all scheduled flights of the reporting carrier must be examined to identify any tickets that meet the Survey selection requirements. The POD Survey must not be limited to the tickets that the reporting carrier issues. The Survey must include all tickets in which the carrier transported a passenger. The electronic ticket sale record can be the source of the data to be examined. The passenger ticket itinerary information to be reported in the POD Survey can be recorded from the first ticket coupon. There is no requirement to wait until a trip has been completed to report the ticket itinerary information. Coupons from a conjunction² ticket set shall be considered as a single itinerary under the ticket number of the primary (first) ticket of the conjunction set.

It is recognized that many airlines do not record the entire itinerary from tickets issued by other airlines for revenue accounting purposes. However, the reporting carrier is required to obtain the complete itinerary data for tickets issued by other airlines in order to determine if the ticket meets the selection requirements for inclusion in the Survey.

2.1 Honoured Tickets

There are instances where a reporting carrier may honour the ticket of another carrier (non code-share partner) and transport the passenger without re-issuing the ticket. In these cases, the reporting carrier should treat the ticket as if it had actually been re-issued and report it accordingly. This includes changing the air carrier code of the ticketing carrier from the one on the ticket to the carrier that honoured the ticket.

3. Sample Selection and Reporting Criteria

3.1 Use of 10 percent sample

Where the POD Survey data represent a 10% sample of tickets in which a participating carrier transported the passenger(s) on at least one segment of the ticketed journey, each participating airline must examine all electronic tickets, including Automated Ticket and Baggage (ATB) tickets for passengers on all of the carrier's scheduled flights throughout its system. This requirement applies to tickets issued by the reporting airline as well as tickets issued by other airlines.

Tickets to be retained for further sampling consideration are:

1. Group-tickets with 11 or more passengers regardless of the ticket serial number.
2. Single-passenger tickets with serial numbers ending in the digit zero (not the check digit). For conjunction tickets, the serial number for the first group of tickets determines the reportability of the entire conjunction set.
3. Group tickets with 10 or less passengers with serial numbers ending in the digit zero (not the check digit).

3.2 Use of 100 percent sample

In order to improve sample accuracy or to prevent distortions, the Aviation Statistics Centre may require a carrier to employ a 100 percent sample.

In certain markets or in special situations (e.g. on-board sales on shuttle services), a carrier may elect to use a 100 percent sample. In such cases, prior approval for use of this option must be obtained from the Aviation Statistics Centre. Similarly, if this option has been adopted, it may not be discontinued without prior approval by the Aviation Statistics Centre.

4. Conversion of Ticket Itinerary to the Required Dual-Carrier Format

The Aviation Statistics Centre requires that passenger itineraries be reported with the operating and the advertised carrier identified on each trip segment. The reporting carrier must identify the advertised carrier and record it in the advertised carrier field for each segment.

Each reporting air carrier must also identify itself as the operating carrier (in the operating carrier field) on each segment of the itinerary on which it has or will transport the passenger(s).

The reporting air carrier must also identify the operating carrier on each flight segment on which it is the advertised carrier. However, the reporting carrier is not responsible for reporting the operating carrier of a code share flight in the reported itinerary if the reporting carrier is not in a code sharing relationship with the advertised carrier for that flight.

5. Identification of Reporting Carrier

The first operating participating carrier³ in a trip is responsible for reporting to the survey since it is the one most likely to have the information necessary for reporting.

6. Information to be Reported to the Air Passenger Origin and Destination Survey

The following items are to be reported for each ticket selected for the POD Survey (see Appendix B for the actual record layout). Note that conjunction tickets and re-issued tickets do not require special treatment and are to be treated the same as regular tickets. No adjustment is made in the survey for alterations or changes in itinerary, which take place subsequent to the trip segment covered by electronic ticket.

6.1 Number of Passengers

This is the number of passengers listed for the ticket. For tickets covering 1 to 10 passengers, include the actual number of passengers. A half-fare passenger, such as a child, is to be counted as one passenger. A fractional-fare passenger, such as in a family plan, is also to be counted as one passenger. Tickets for infants under two years of age and not occupying a seat are not to be counted. Passengers flying on "frequent flyer" redemptions are counted as passengers⁴. If a reporting air carrier, using the 10% sample method, issued tickets covering more than 10 passengers, the passenger counts associated with these tickets are to be divided by 10 and then rounded to the nearest whole passenger. (Carriers reporting a 10% sample may contact the Aviation Statistics Centre regarding possible alternate approaches to reporting tickets for more than 10 passengers.)

6.2 Carrier – Routing Detail

The data reported for each passenger trip should show the complete routing, from the origin airport to the destination airport, including each airport where the passenger made a connection or a stopover (intraline or interline). In addition, for each segment in the itinerary, the reporting airline must report the advertised carrier (the carrier whose code and flight number appear on the face of the coupon or in the ticket itinerary) and the operating carrier (the airline that actually provided the transportation) if it is a partner to the reporting airline in a code-share relationship on that segment. For segments not flown by the reporting airline or one of its code-share partners and not advertised on the reporting airline or one of its code-share partners, the operating carrier should be the same as the advertised carrier. The specific reportable data elements representing carrier-routing detail are as follows:

1. IATA Location code for the airport of origin of the segment. This is the airport at which the passenger boarded the flight.
2. IATA Carrier code for the operating airline, or the airline providing the transportation. If the reporting airline or an airline honouring the reporting airline's coupon is transporting the passenger, insert that airline's code in the operating carrier field for the coupon. If the reporting airline or one of its code-share partners is not the operating airline, use the code of the advertised airline in the operating carrier field.
3. IATA Carrier code for the advertised airline, or the airline appearing on the flight coupon. Note that this is not necessarily the airline issuing the ticket.
4. Fare basis code. This refers to the one-character fare basis code originating with the United States Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT). Air carrier fare basis codes are to be converted to these codes (see Appendix E for a list of the codes).
5. IATA Location code for the airport of destination of the segment. This is the second airport of the coupon and represents the trip termination, a point of intraline or interline connection, a stopover, or a change-of-gauge. Where surface transportation is indicated in an itinerary, use the code "--" (dash dash). Omit any surface portions, which appear at the beginning or end of an itinerary. If a carrier is not known, use the code "UK" (unknown). Helicopter and air taxi portions of itineraries are to be retained and recorded.

6.3 Total Value of the Ticket (including taxes) in Canadian Dollars

This is the total dollar value listed for the ticket. The amount is to be reported in Canadian dollars.

Reporting carriers using the 10 % sample method should divide the total value of the ticket by the number of passengers reported if the number of passengers on the ticket is between 2 and 10. If the number of passengers on the ticket was more than 10, divide the total value of the ticket by the original number of passengers on the ticket (not the number of passengers resulting from the previous instruction to divide by 10).

All carriers are responsible for reporting total ticket value for bulk fare tickets or inclusive tour tickets sold either directly to passengers or through tour operators. Where such tickets contain no fare information, the reporting carrier must report the value of the ticket that the reporting airline received from the tour operator. This can be derived by dividing the monthly contract revenue received by the airline from the tour operator for a city-pair by the number of passengers who travelled in the city-pair using tickets covered by the contract.

Only if the total ticket value cannot be determined from the ticket or calculated from bulk fare contracts may the reporting airline use 99999 in the fare field.

7. Aggregating Recorded Data

Prior to the submission of each quarterly report to the Aviation Statistics Centre, the reporting carrier is required to sort the recorded entries into alphabetic sequence by itinerary, i.e. by ticket origin, complete routing (including the fare code) and ticket destination. All identical entries are then to be combined into one summary record each quarter.

The number of passengers on the summary records is to be the sum of the passenger amounts of all the individual identical records combined. Fare amounts are also to be summed accordingly.

8. Sources of Data for Reporting

Airlines that are required to participate in the POD Survey must use all possible sources of information needed to report complete and accurate itinerary data.

If an electronic ticket does not contain all the information needed to help the reporting airline to report the required POD Survey data then the airline must obtain the information from additional sources. If the reporting airline also issued the ticket, then the airline may need to examine its ticket sales data or its Transaction Control Number (TCN) records to assist it in reporting the entire itinerary, operating carriers and airport codes in an accurate manner.

If an electronic ticket is part of a ticket issued by another airline then the reporting carrier is responsible for obtaining all of the itinerary information that it needs from the issuing carrier. If the ticket is issued by a code-share partner of the reporting carrier or by another air carrier that belongs to a marketing alliance that includes a Canadian air carrier, then the reporting carrier must obtain all information from the issuing carrier that will help it to report the entire itinerary, in the applicable quarter.

9. Statement of Procedures

Each airline that participates in the POD Survey is required to prepare and send to the Aviation Statistics Centre a statement of the procedures the airline uses to select, record, summarize, edit and report the survey data. The Aviation Statistics Centre must approve changes made to POD Survey processing prior to their implementation. The Statement of Procedures should provide enough detail for the Aviation Statistics Centre to understand the carrier's flow of processing of tickets, the selection and reporting decisions, methods used to identify the operating carrier, editing and management responsibility and supervision.

10. Submission of Reports

Reports are to be filed with the Aviation Statistics Centre for each quarter of the year, within thirty (30) days after the end of each quarter. The data should be created in text file format and submitted via Statistics Canada's E-File Transfer Service.

10.1 Reporting by E-File Transfer

Statistics Canada has an e-File Transfer Service (e-FT) in place, which enables organizations outside of Statistics Canada to exchange electronic files in a secure manner using the Internet.

If POD Survey data are provided by e-File transfer, please refer to the attached separate document titled "Statistics Canada's e-File Transfer Service: External User Guide" for detailed user instructions.

Carriers should contact the Aviation Statistics Centre when choosing to use the e-File Transfer service so that appropriate user accounts and permissions may be established.

Individual file password(s) should be communicated directly to the manager of the Air Passenger Origin and Destination Survey.

11. Record Retention

Participating airlines are required to retain all passenger ticket itinerary information used to prepare the POD Survey reports for three years. Records should be retained to enable the airline to reconstruct the POD Survey reports for the latest three years (twelve quarters). The method of storage and retrieval of stored records must be identified in the carrier's Statement of Procedures.

Appendix A: Canadian Air Carriers Participating in the Air Passenger Origin and Destination Survey

Appendix B : Revenue Passenger Origin-Destination Survey Record Layout

Environment, Energy and Transportation Statistics Division

Revenue Passenger Origin-Destination Survey – Statement 3 (I, II)

General information

This information is collected under the authority of the Statistics Act, Revised Statutes of Canada, 1985, Chapter S19.

COMPLETION OF THIS QUESTIONNAIRE IS A LEGAL REQUIREMENT UNDER THIS ACT.

Survey purpose – The purpose of this mandatory, quarterly survey is to provide estimates, on a city-pair basis, of air passengers travelling on scheduled commercial flights. Your information may also be used by Statistics Canada for other statistical and research purposes.

Confidentiality – Statistics Canada is prohibited by law from releasing any information it collects that could identify any person, business, or organization, unless consent has been given by the respondent or as permitted by the Statistics Act. Statistics Canada will use the information from this survey for statistical purposes.

Fax or e-mail transmission disclosure – Statistics Canada advises you that there could be a risk of disclosure during the transmission of information by facsimile or e-mail. However, upon receipt, Statistics Canada will provide the guaranteed level of protection afforded all information collected under the authority of the Statistics Act.

Record linkages – To enhance the data from this survey, Statistics Canada may combine it with information from other surveys or from administrative sources.

Data-sharing agreements – To reduce respondent burden, Statistics Canada has entered into data-sharing agreements under Section 12 of the Statistics Act with Transport Canada and the Canadian Transportation Agency. Statistics Canada will only share data from this survey with those organizations that have demonstrated a requirement to use this data.

Although, under Section 12 of the Statistics Act, respondents can object to the sharing of information with other organizations, because Transport Canada has the legislative authority to collect this information on a mandatory basis pursuant to the Canada Transportation Act and the Transportation Information Regulations, respondents do not have the right to object to the sharing of the data.

However, respondents may refuse to share their information with the Canadian Transportation Agency by writing a letter of objection to the Chief Statistician and returning it with the completed questionnaire. Under the terms of the Section 12 agreement, the Canadian Transportation Agency has agreed to keep the data confidential and use them only for statistical purposes.

Please submit your data within 30 days of the current reference quarter.

Appendix C: Glossary of Terms

Selected terms used in these instructions are defined and explained in the glossary in the context applicable to these instructions only. They are not intended to be general definitions for use beyond the confines of this passenger survey.

Carrier

• Advertised Carrier: The airline whose code and flight number appear on the flight coupon or in the ticket itinerary.
• Carrier: Any scheduled air carrier, Canadian or foreign, that appears on a coupon stage in a ticket itinerary, including helicopter and taxi carriers.
• Operating Carrier: The air carrier that actually operated the advertised flight. The operating carrier may advertise its own flight while allowing another airline to advertise the same flight. In some situations, the code-share operator does not advertise service under its own name and only operates flights for the airline advertising the service.
• Participating Carrier: An air carrier that is governed by the survey data collection and reporting instructions contained herein and which is required to file POD reports with the Aviation Statistics Centre.
• Reporting Carrier: The air carrier in a given itinerary, which has identified the reportable flight coupon and recorded the itinerary for inclusion in the data submission to the Air Passenger Origin and Destination Survey.

Carrier Reporting Level (2010 definitions):

• Level I: Every Canadian air carrier that, in the calendar year immediately preceding the reporting year, transported at least 2 million revenue passengers or at least 400 thousand tonnes of cargo.
• Level II: Every Canadian air carrier that, in the calendar year immediately preceding the reporting year, transported at least 100 thousand, but fewer than 2 million revenue passengers, or at least 50 thousand but less than 400 thousand tonnes of cargo.
• Level III: Every Canadian air carrier not classified in reporting level I or II that, in the calendar year immediately preceding the reporting year, realized gross revenues of at least 2 million dollars for the provision of air services for which the air carrier held a licence.
• Level IV: Every Canadian air carrier not classified in reporting level I, II or III that, in the calendar year immediately preceding the reporting year, realized gross revenues of less than 2 million dollars for the provision of air services for which the air carrier held a licence.

Change of Gauge: The planned change from one aircraft to another or from an aircraft of one size to that of another size within the itinerary of a single flight number. For example, a flight from Sydney to Los Angeles may operate from Sydney to Auckland with a B767 and from Auckland to Los Angeles with a B747. For the purposes of POD Survey reporting, a passenger with a SYD-LAX coupon should be reported as SYD-AKL-LAX such that the point of change of gauge is inserted in the reported itinerary.

Connection:

• Interline Connection: A passenger's transfer from a flight operated by one airline to a flight operated by another airline, with or without a stopover, at an intermediate point in an itinerary.
• Intraline Connection: A passenger's transfer from one flight to another flight at an intermediate point in an itinerary, where the same air carrier operates both flights.

Itinerary: All points in the passenger journey, beginning with the origin, followed by the routing, and ending with the destination, in the sequence shown on the ticket.

Lifted Flight Coupon (or Electronic Equivalent): A passenger ticket coupon, good for travel on a single flight that has been either removed by the transporting airline at the time of passenger boarding or surrendered by the passenger in exchange for a boarding pass. The electronic equivalent would be any evidence of passenger travel on a flight that is part of a ticket itinerary.

Point:

• Intermediate Point: Any point in an itinerary, other than the origin or destination, at which the passenger makes an interline or intraline connection.
• Point: A city or airport (including heliports).

Revenue Passenger: A person for whose transportation an air carrier receives commercial remuneration. This definition includes, for example, (i) passengers travelling under publicly available promotional offers ("two-for-one") or loyalty programs ("frequent flyers"); (ii) passengers travelling as compensation for denied boarding; (iii) passengers travelling at corporate discounts ; (iv) passengers travelling on preferential fares (government, seamen, military, youth, student). This definition excludes, for example, (i) persons travelling free; (ii) persons travelling at a fare or discount available only to employees of air carriers or their agents; (iii) employees of an air carrier travelling on the business of the carrier; (iv) infants who do not occupy a seat.

Routing: The carrier on each flight coupon stage in an itinerary and the intermediate points of connection (interline and intraline) in the sequence of occurrence in the movement of the passengers from origin to destination.

Scheduled Service: The operation of a flight on a regular basis according to a published timetable and available to the public on short notice.

Surface Segment: Ground transportation (bus, rail, boat) that is included as part of a ticketed air itinerary and the total value of the ticket.

Ticket:

• Conjunction Ticket: Two or more tickets concurrently issued to a passenger, which in total constitute a single travel document for a single ticket itinerary.
• Electronic Ticket: A computer record of a ticketed passenger itinerary and fare.
• Group‑Fare Ticket: A single ticket valid for the transportation of two or more revenue passengers over the same itinerary.
• Reissued Ticket: A ticket issued in exchange for all or part of the unused portion of a previously issued ticket.
• Single‑Passenger Ticket: A passenger ticket valid for transportation of only one revenue passenger over a given itinerary.

Ticket Destination: The last point in the itinerary and the last point at which the passenger is to deplane at the completion of the journey. (In round‑trip itineraries, the ticket destination and the ticket origin are the same.)

Ticket Number: The sequential number on a ticket, consisting of a three-digit carrier number and a ten-digit document number. The check digit is excluded. For the purposes of identifying zero-ending tickets for inclusion in the sample for the POD Survey, it is the tenth digit of the document number that is to be considered. The ticket number is also known as the document control number or form and serial number.

Ticket Origin: The first point in the itinerary and the point where the passenger first boards an air carrier.

Appendix D: Summary of Sample Selection Logic

Step 1: Tickets issued by reporting airline or other airlines

Step 2: Is the ticket for a group of 11+ passengers?

• If Yes, go to Step 4
• If No, go to Step 3

Step 3: Does the ticket number end in zero?

• If Yes, go to Step 4
• If No, do not report ticket to POD Survey

Step 4: If this is a conjunction ticket, is this the first booklet?

• If Yes, go to step 5
• If No, do not report ticket to POD Survey

Step 5: Was the ticket first used during the Quarter being processed?

• If Yes, go to Step 6
• If No, do not report ticket to POD Survey

Step 6:

• Determine operating carrier for all trip segments on which reporting carrier or its affiliate was or will transport the passenger.
• Convert the Fare Basis code on each coupon to one of the U.S. DOT\StatsCan POD Survey Fare Basis reporting codes.
• Is reporting carrier the first operating carrier in the ticket itinerary?
• If Yes, go to Step 7
• If No, do not report ticket to POD Survey

Step 7: Report entire ticketed itinerary to POD Survey

Appendix E: United States Department of Transportation / Statistics Canada Air Passenger Origin and Destination Survey Codes for Reporting Fare Basis Information in the Itinerary Record

Seven single-character codes, created by the United States Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT), Bureau of Transportation Statistics, Office of Airline Information, are to be used for reporting fare basis information in the POD Survey. These codes are designed to provide identification for unrestricted (full) and restricted (discount) fares in first class, business class and coach class categories and a code for an unknown fare basis. The POD Survey fare basis reporting codes are:

• F - Unrestricted First Class
• G - Restricted First Class
• C - Unrestricted Business Class
• D - Restricted Business Class
• Y - Unrestricted Coach/Economy Class
• X - Restricted Coach/Economy Class
• U - Unknown (This fare category is used when a fare basis code is not shown on a ticket coupon, or when you cannot read the fare basis code, or when two or more carrier fare codes are compressed into a single coupon.)

"Unrestricted" includes all fares not subject to restrictions other than time of day, such as night and off-peak fares. These categories include all "full" or "premium" fares (F, C, P, W, Y, J, R), plus all otherwise unrestricted off-peak fares (FN, YN, CN, and KN) and the "economy" (K) fares.

"Restricted" includes any fare subject to significant restrictions, such as, advanced purchase requirements, minimum or maximum stay, refund penalty, membership in a particular group (military, youth, clergy), tour package and similar characteristics.

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Notes

1. See definitions under "Carrier Reporting Level" in the Glossary in Appendix C.
2. See definition of "Ticket: Conjunction" in the Glossary in Appendix C.
3. For a list of the carriers participating in the POD Survey, see Appendix A.
4. See definition of "Revenue Passenger" in the Glossary in Appendix C.