Commercial Fixed Wing
Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Confusion; Distraction; Situational Awareness
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Weight And Balance
General None Reported / Taken
Environment - Non Weather Related; Human Factors; Procedure
I did not follow the procedure of verifying the count when the discrepancy was so large. Though it seems like a large difference; based on our high cancellation rate due to the coronavirus I honestly thought we had 11 passengers on the airplane. My first officer recognized the problem; reported the problem and we took corrective action using our manuals before we landed. We most certainly took off with incorrect performance numbers likely off by as much as 14;000 lbs.We loaded up Aircraft X; ZZZ to ZZZ1. Our dispatch paperwork indicated we were expecting XX passengers. Our final load sheet came down with 11 passengers. We were unable to get numbers based on needing our ZFW to be reset. We contacted dispatch; but had a bad connection. We were able through multiple attempts to relay the information that we had 11 passengers and a new ZFW of 96.6. We got our numbers and successfully departed ZZZ. In route we took a lav break. When the First Officer went to the lav; he came back and reported there were far more than 11 passengers; probably much closer to the XX that was on our release. When I went to lav I confirmed that estimate to be accurate. I determined that our actual landing weight was likely about 14;000 pounds heavier than we had planned and went to the com to get more accurate landing speeds and landing distance. We landed safely and uneventfully.
Air carrier Captain reported departing with a passenger count discrepancy resulting in a weight and balance issue.