The Travel Industry Association commissioned a recent study on the state of the travel industry. Roger Dow, president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based association, said the research "should be a wake-up call to America’s policy leaders that the time for meaningful air system reform is now." "The air travel crisis has hit a tipping point – more than 100,000 travelers each day are voting with their wallets by choosing to avoid trips," Dow said in a statement.
From this study, we gleaned some very interesting nuggets worth sharing
- Nearly half of American air travelers would fly more if it were easier, and more than one-fourth said they skipped at least one air trip in the past 12 months because of the hassles involved.
- The 41 million forgone trips cost the travel industry $18.1 billion – including $9.4 billion to airlines and $5.6 billion to hotels.
- The lost tax revenue to federal, state and local authorities equals $4.2 billion in the past 12 months.
- When 28% of air travelers avoided an average of 1.3 trips each, that resulted in 29 million leisure trips and 12 million business trips not being taken
- 44% of the air travelers surveyed said they would take more air trips each year if airport hassles could be reduced or eliminated
- People who flew more than five times in the past 12 months were more likely to describe air travel as frustrating, at 52 percent, compared with 33 percent of infrequent travelers, defined as people who flew one or two round trips in 12 months, according to the survey.
- More than half of respondents said either efficiency or reliability is getting worse, 60 percent said the system is deteriorating, and 56 percent said flying is the "bad" or "worst" part of travel – though 62 percent said air travel security is improving
I’m surprised that only half of flyers find air travel frustrating. When was the last time you ran into someone who enjoyed their flight?