Highlights

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1. In 2007, Canadian Level I and II air carriers reported nearly 53 million enplaned passengers in their scheduled and charter operations, an all-time high, up 6.4% from 2006, continuing the upward trend that began in 2004. The scheduled passenger counts reached 49.4 million and the charter passenger counts, 3.5 million. The scheduled passenger counts reached an all-time high (13.5 million) in the third quarter of 2007. In terms of passenger-kilometres flown, these carriers recorded 125.4 billion passenger-kilometres in their scheduled and charter operations in 2007, also an all-time high, up 6.5% from the previous year.
2. In 2007, Canadian Level I and II air carriers reported an improvement in their scheduled passenger load factor (a measure of the fullness of their aircraft) compared to 2006. The passenger load factor improved from 78.1% in 2006 to 81.3% in 2007, as the demand, as measured by passenger-kilometres, advanced at a faster pace (+6.1%) than the supply (capacity), as measured by available seat-kilometres (+2.0%). The passenger load factor on scheduled flights reached an all-time high (85.5%) in the second quarter of 2007—largely due to a decrease in capacity; in the next quarter, it reached 81.7%. These quarters represent the only two quarters for which the Canadian Level I and II air carriers' passenger load factors have ever surpassed 80%.
3. In 2007, the total operating revenues operated by the Canadian Level I and II air carriers amounted to $15.1 billion, up 6.3% from 2006, continuing the upward trend that began in 2004. The total operating expenses increased to $13.9 billion in 2007, up 2.6% over the previous year. These carriers reported an operating income in all quarters of 2007. In 2007, Canadian Level I and II air carriers reported a net income of $879.9 million, an improvement in profitability from the $264.4 million recorded in 2006 and an all-time high. On a quarterly basis, the net income varied between $72.5 million in the first quarter of 2007 and $464.1 million in the third quarter of 2007.
4. Between the first quarter of 2007 and the fourth quarter of 2007, the operating ratio (it displays the carrier's ability to meet its short-term obligations and represents the proportion of operating revenue absorbed by operating expenses) hovered between 0.85 in the third quarter and 0.98 in the first quarter. Overall, this means that the Canadian Level I and II air carriers made 15.0 cents of profit for every dollar spent in the third quarter of 2007 and 2.0 cents of profit in the first quarter of 2007.
5. Between the first quarter of 2007 and the fourth quarter of 2007, the highest profit margin (it indicates the profit margin earned by revenue dollar and is obtained by dividing net income by operating revenue—this ratio is expressed as a percentage) was recorded in the third quarter (10.9%). This shows that every dollar of service sold earned 10.9 cents of profit for the Canadian Level I and II air carriers.
6. In 2007, the operating revenue per employee varied from $107,614 in the fourth quarter to $128,180 in the third quarter. This employee productivity measure showed quarterly year-over-year increases from 2006 to 2007, the gains ranging from 0.6% in the second quarter to 5.4% in the first quarter. Another yardstick used to measure productivity within the aviation industry is to calculate tonne-kilometres flown per employee. According to this measure, labour productivity in 2007 bettered the previous year level in each quarter, the increases ranging from 0.1% in the third quarter to 3.0% in the first quarter. As for the previous year, the tonne-kilometres flown per employee were higher in the third quarter, at 123,268.
7. Total employment reported by Canadian Level I and II air carriers rose steadily from 31,960 in the second quarter of 2006 to 33,337 in the fourth quarter of 2007. The string of quarterly year-over-year increases for total wages and salaries paid by Canadian Level I and II air carriers that began in the fourth quarter of 2005 continued in each quarter of 2007.