It got the information from this forum, so it must be true.
Odd, there was no reference cited (this was noted on the entry). Did you write the abstract?
But AC/AE has not released any official numbers since 2001. I posted those numbers which came from the staff Aeroplan handbook that is no longer published. Those numbers included unduplicated CP elites who were converted to AC elites, as well as AC's own elites. At the time, AC advertised that Aeroplan had over 6 million members, but since going "public" it has trimmed the number down to just over 5 million.
Today, Aeroplan in Canada has about 4.5 million active members, but only about 250,000 of those will be qualified as frequent flyers. In other words, they'd be Prestige, Elite or Super Elite in Air Canada's tier system. Approximately half a million would be occasional flyers.
Programs: AC E, SPG nothing but wannabe Platinum :-)
Posts: 1,448
As I ponder the quote above that I just posted, I think it means that AC only services 750,000 distinct individuals with Aeroplan numbers each year. (Assume that "occasional" = once per year.) Add to that the non-Aeroplan people they fly around and you don't exactly have a very large customer base.
What about breakdowns by home airport? Is that too much to ask? I mean, YYZ has dedicated SE lines, but YHZ for example I imagine has a lot fewer...
in other words: how many people am I competing with for upgrades out of YHZ? hehe...
Well I'm in YHZ and I'm only E. So you got one up on me! haha.
Flights out of YHZ I find have more upgrade room. Does this mean there are less SE/E/P? Not exactly. Could be various factors.
While looking at flights departing tomorrow, I is wide open to airports like YYT,YUL,YYZ, YOW, etc... Some still being I5 with less than 18 hours till departure.
I mean, YYZ has dedicated SE lines, but YHZ for example I imagine has a lot fewer... 
