New Consumer Survey IDs Top Air Travel Hassles

Long Lines, Flight Delays: Top Air Travel Peeves Revealed
Long Lines, Flight Delays: Top Air Travel Peeves Revealed
Written by Harry Johnson

Long Lines at Airport Security and Terminal Counters Plus Flight Delays/Cancellations Cited by Consumers as Top Hassles When Flying.

A survey of America’s flying public indicates that long lines at security (61%), flight delays or cancellations (57%) and long lines at the airline terminal counter (41%) are the top three most common causes of delays or inconveniences they face at the airport. Consumers could select multiple options in their responses.

The survey was conducted on behalf of Checkin.com Group whose advanced technologies and innovations offer a unique end-to-end solution that reshapes how end users check in with products and brands online.

How much time, on average, do respondents indicate they spend waiting in lines at airport security or check-in counters, when they fly? Just 8% say less than 10 minutes while a quarter (27%) indicate between 10 and 19 minutes, 29% say between 20 and 29 minutes and 23% say their average wait is between 30 and 45 minutes. Nine percent of consumers said they wait between 46 minutes and an hour and 4% cite average waits of more than an hour.

When asked if they were given the opportunity to pay for the convenience and security of having their travel documents reviewed and accepted prior to arriving at the airport, so they could go directly to the gate, three-quarters (76%) expressed a willingness to pay a fee while a quarter (24%) said they were not willing to pay an extra fee for that.

Of those willing to pay, one-third (35%) would be willing to pay more than $10, another third (33%) said they would be okay with paying between $5 and $10; 8% indicated they would be willing to pay between $1 and $5 for the service.

“It’s actually surprising that American consumers are so irritated by airport delays that they would be willing to pay their airlines extra to have their passports, visas and enhanced driver’s licenses reviewed and accepted before they leave for the airport,” said April Rae Mallord, general manager, US Market, Checkin.com Group. “The fact is that the technology and systems exist today to remove this extra friction from their flying experience.”

The survey also asked consumers to rate their satisfaction – or dissatisfaction – with the U.S. airline mobile apps they use for checking into a flight. The top five, ranked by their being completely satisfied or somewhat satisfied (with consumers able to pick multiple airline apps), are SkyWest Airlines (93%), Alaska Airlines (91%), Allegiant Air (87%), Delta Air Lines (83%) and American Airlines (82%). The bottom three scores are Frontier Airlines (73%), Spirit (70%) and Hawaiian Airlines (65%).

The online survey of 1,212 U.S. adults, ages 18 and over, was conducted by Researchscape International on behalf of Checkin.com Group from September 6 to 9, 2024. The survey data was weighted to a nationally representative sample of American adults across key demographics, including age, gender, region, race/ethnicity and education to align with the U.S. census. The credibility interval is plus or minus four percentage points for questions answered by all respondents (the interval is larger for questions answered by fewer respondents).

About the author

Harry Johnson

Harry Johnson has been the assignment editor for eTurboNews for mroe than 20 years. He lives in Honolulu, Hawaii, and is originally from Europe. He enjoys writing and covering the news.

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