Forecasting Traffic on STOL*

A subsidiary of Air Canada will be operating an experimental STOL (Short Take-Off and Landing) service between Montreal and Ottawa from downtown airports. A model was developed to forecast traffic and evaluate marketing strategies for the proposed service. Traditional forecasting methods relying on historical data are of little use as STOL will offer a level of service outside the range of existing experience. The model therefore uses attitudinal data on such things as comfort in conjunction with data on more concrete variables such as price. The data came from a market research survey.