MONTREAL — Stats from the Ipsos Reid 2018 Canadian Business Traveller Survey indicate that Air Canada is the preferred airline for domestic travel for 92% of frequent business travellers, according to the airline.

According to the national study, Air Canada was the only Canadian airline to see a consistent increase in preference and in usage for the past five years. 

“This year’s Ipsos Reid Canadian Business Traveller Survey confirms Air Canada is the preferred airline of Canadians who fly most often and that its lead over other carriers continues to widen. The 2018 results revealed the broadest margin of frequent traveller preference for Air Canada versus our domestic competitors since 2014, and we are especially pleased that this positive trend is seen in all regions of Canada,” says Lucie Guillemette, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Air Canada.

“Year-over-year increases in key ratings by business travellers reflect our business customers’ appreciation of our strong global network, schedule, loyalty programs and focus on customer service. Together with the results from Business Traveler USA, this further indicates that Air Canada is successfully executing its global strategies, which include introducing a new, industry-leading loyalty program in 2020. On behalf of our 30,000 employees worldwide, I thank our customers for choosing Air Canada in growing numbers, and we look forward to welcoming them onboard North America’s only international four-star airline as affirmed by global air transport rating organization Skytrax, for their next flight.”

The 27th annual Canadian Business Traveller Survey is an online survey conducted independently by Ipsos Reid, based on business travellers who took a minimum of six round trip flights for business in the past 12 months.

Overall satisfaction with Air Canada’s service continues to increase, climbing six percentage points over 2017 for in-flight and four percentage points for airports.

Air Canada’s highest scores in the last five years was satisfaction in its schedule, loyalty program, customer service and perception as a dynamic organization. 

Some 96% of respondents said they intend to use Air Canada for domestic business travel in the coming year.  

The study also indicated that Air Canada is the preferred airline for travel between Canada and the U.S., up 11 percentage points over the last five years.

Business travel increased the most internationally to Europe, Asia and other global destinations, growing by five percentage points over last year.