Department of Transportation, Research and Special Programs Administration, Office of Aviation Information Management 
Number 122
Issue Date: 3/22/89
Effective Date: 7/01/89
Part 241, Sec. 19-7
Par. Various

The Office of Aviation Information Management has completed a detailed analysis of the Passenger Origin-Destination Survey (O&D) submissions for the second quarter of 1988. New edit procedures were employed for the first time in this analysis. Some submissions were quite good while others contained some major flaws that would impact the statistical validity of the data. Several carriers were contacted about their data and asked to correct internal survey procedures to prevent the occurrence of similar problems in the future. The results of this initiative should be fully reflected in the O&D submitted for the first quarter of 1989.

The purpose of this Reporting Directive is to provide the industry with uniform reporting guidance for several of the major problem areas discovered by our special analysis. These areas are airport codes, low cost tickets, itinerary information, and conjunction tickets. Also, we have included a section on editing. The citations in the following paragraphs refer to Appendix A to Section 241.19-7 of the Department's Economic Regulations (14 CPR 241.19-7), unless otherwise indicated.

AIRPORT CODES

The O&D instructions require airport codes to be used to identify passenger origin, destination, and transfer points.

We found more than an occasional use of city codes in some submissions, especially for those cities with their own three letter code such as NYC for New York. Section V.D.(2)(a) states that "All entries for points (airport codes) in an itinerary are to be recorded in three-letter airport codes..."Further, in this same paragraph it states, "However, if a code is obviously incorrect, record the correct code. For instance, if a ticket is coded DCA-NY Washington/National to New York when the flight stage actually operated Washington, Dulles [IAD] to Newark (EWR), record the correct airport code[s]. When only name spellings of a city appear on the ticket for multi-airport cities (such as Washington, New York, San Francisco. or Los Angeles), record the specific three letter airport code." Footnote refers to the Official Airline Guide and bracketed-information has been added for clarity.

While it may not be possible in all cases to change the city code to the airport code, such as carriage performed by other carriers, we do expect that the use of city codes can be drastically reduced and become the exception in a carrier's submission. Also see Section VII.A. on editing for acceptable airport codes.

LOW COST TICKETS

Tickets provided by the Air carrier to a revenue passenger at a low cost or at no cost are to be included in the O&D Survey as revenue passenger's tickets.

Section X defines a revenue passenger as "A passenger transported for which more than a service charge or nominal remuneration is received by the air carrier. Passengers travelling for a zero fare, because of the-frequent flyer or mileage programs are considered revenue passengers, since the revenue considerations for passenger travel were included in their previously purchased tickets." Likewise, tickets provided as denied boarding compensation would also be considered revenue passengers under the same theory. Complete information should be reported for these revenue passengers, whether or not they are using standard industry tickets. The dollar-amount-of-fare data must show the amount paid in whole dollars for the ticket by the passenger, including amounts such as zero dollars, one dollar or any other amount, Passengers strictly classified as nonrevenue traffic should continue to be excluded from O&D reports.

FULL ITINERARY INFORMATION

The journey of the sampled passenger must be fully described in the O&D reports for each reportable coupon, regardless of whether a standard industry ticket or in those few cases a nonstandard ticket (cash register tapes, boarding pass, etc.) was used for the contract of carriage.

Section 241.19-7(c) states that "The data to be reported from selected lifted ticket flight coupons ... shall include the following data elements Point of origin, carrier on each flight coupon stage. fare-basis code for each flight coupon stage, points of stopover or connection (interline and intra-line), point of destination, number of passengers, and total dollar value of ticket (fare plus tax)." Appendix V.D.2. which further explains the recording of these data elements states "The individual data item are to be recorded in the sequence of occurrence in the itinerary as follows: ..." From these citations it is clear that the purpose of the Survey is to provide complete information about the sampled passengers. Historically this data could be easily taken from the lifted flight coupon of the standard ARC or IATA ticket which contained complete information about the passenger's journey. However, with the innovative marketing and ticketing practices developed during the last few years, in many instances the flight coupon has been supplemented or replaced with boarding passes, vouchers or other pieces of paper, thereby eliminating the need for the coupon to contain complete passenger itinerary information.

In these Instances, we concluded from out detailed analysis that the O&D submission contains only the information recorded on the flight coupon, This means that some of the itinerary data is not being reported for these special operating ticketing practices.

The integrity of the O&D Survey is important to the regulatory, decision-making process for some of the Department's aviation programs, Carriers must assure themselves that their data collection procedures include complete information concerning the passenger trip from beginning to end, In this context, Section V.C.(l) permits the use of alternative sampling procedures for carriers with special operating characteristics if approved by this Office. Some carriers may need to update their procedural statement on file with this office to handle their particular special operating practices.

CONJUNCTION TICKETS

The decision on whether to sample a conjunction ticket should be determined by the serial number on the top or first ticket. Do not consider the serial number on the second or other conjunction tickets (See V.B.).

EDITING O-D DATA

From the numerous errors noted in some submissions, it is obvious that some carriers must strengthen their edit checks to ensure their O&D report is complete and accurate.

Section VII.B. states "Each carrier is responsible for developing edit procedures and internal controls over its data entry and processing procedures so that valid and reliable data are captured in the O&D Survey inputs and are properly summarized in the outputs. Since the carriers have many different statistical systems, it is not practicable for the Department of Transportation to prescribe specific controls in this area, and each carrier is responsible for developing the appropriate internal control procedures to edit the O&D Survey data and ensure the integrity of these data." For instance, a comparison with flight schedules, or operating statistics (service segmentdata) previously reported to DOT in accordance with Section 241.19.6 can provide bench marks for analysis. Under the O&D sampling methodology, an air carrier who offers scheduled flights between two airports would be expected to have some O&D passengers traveling between these points, and a carrier reporting on-flight passengers transported between pairs of points in its service segment date reports would be expected to have coupon passengers at a generally comparable rate in its O&D submissions. Comparisons with previous quarters of O&D submissions, airport traffic volumes, or market totals will also provide information to an air carrier for determining the quality of its O&D submission. These comparisons can reveal inadvertent errors before the report is submitted, and will help avoid the need for DOT to require correction and resubmission of the data at a later date.

Beginning with O&D submissions for the first quarter of 1989, carriers will be furnished quarterly printouts showing problems detected by DOT edits. There will be two listings at first, one showing the results of an O&D comparison to Schedule T-9 or Service Segment Data, and the other showing items flagged for grossly disproportionate fare values.

DEPARTMENT CONTACTS

Air carriers may discuss this Directive or any O&D problem with Mr. Richard King (202)366-4375 or Mr. Richard Strite (202) 366-4373. This action is taken under authority delegated in section 385.27(b) of the Department's regulations (14 CFR 385.27(b). Large certificated U.S. air carriers entitled to petition for review of this directive under Section 385.50et sec., (14 CFR 385.50 et seg.) may file such petitions by April 28, 1989.Unless petitions for review are filed by that date, this directive shall become effective July 1, 1989.

Robin A. Caldwell
Director, office of Aviation
Information Management