The 39th annual General Aviation and Part 135 Activity Survey is now underway.

The survey is the FAA’s primary source of information about the size and activity of the general aviation and on-demand Part 135 fleet.

According to the FAA, data collected from the survey helps the agency:

Anticipate and meet demand for National Airspace System facilities and services;

evaluate the impact of safety initiatives and regulatory changes;

Build more accurate measures of the safety of the general aviation community.

The data is also used by other government agencies, the general aviation industry, trade associations, and private businesses to pinpoint safety problems and to form the basis for critical research and analysis of general aviation issues, FAA officials said.

The survey is conducted on behalf of the FAA by Tetra Tech, an independent research firm, and all survey responses are confidential. It is a scientific sample of aircraft from the Civil Aviation Registry, officials note.

Tetra Tech officials say they would like to hear from everyone who received an invitation to complete the survey to prepare accurate statistics on aviation activity.