BONUS: What airline travelers HATE about flying!

Interested to see what airline passengers hate the most about traveling? Do you want to know what airline passengers really want? Curious to see the current trends in flying? Simply put, do you want to know what people want when flying? IATA’s 2019 Global Passenger Survey results provide the answers to these questions.

And there are some interesting discoveries. Let’s see them. I’ve also added what passengers hate about flying (from another source).

• airline passengers want to speed up travel processes and for that, they are willing to share more data, including biometric identification
• airline passengers want to be able to track their bag
• airline passengers want to spend a maximum of 10 minutes for baggage collection and immigration/customs
• airline passengers want in-flight wi-fi
• airline passengers want to use technology to improve their travel experience (including smartphone check-in)
• Bonus: we’ll see what airline passengers HATE about flying (from a different source!)

What airline passengers want – interesting airline passenger survey results + What airline passengers HATE about flying

Airline Passengers want to speed up travel processes and for that, they are willing to share more data, including biometric identification

Let’s start the list of what do airline passengers want with a modern-day focus: speed and use of biometrics.

46% of the respondents to the survey stated that they prefer to use their biometric identification as their travel document.

Moreover, 70% of the respondents said that they are willing to share their biometric identifiers so that they speed up the processes.

The profile of the biometrics supporter seems to be that of a male, 35-44 years old who takes 10+ flights per year.

Are you a fan/supporter of using biometric identification to speed up the processes at the airport?

Airline passengers want to be able to track their bag

Still wondering what do people want when flying?

46% of the respondents said that, if they could track their bag, they would want it to be delivered directly to the final destination, and 1 out of 2 passengers out of the remaining 54% would still travel with cabin luggage.

I have to say that when traveling with a laptop or other apparatus (a DSRL camera or similar), I would still use cabin luggage too. And I’m guessing many people would use the cabin luggage as that’s included, so they don’t pay extra for the checked-in luggage.

In fact, the survey had a question – why don’t you check-in your bag and the answers were:

• I don’t want to wait for my bag at arrival – 52%
• I need my essentials – 30%
• I packed restricted items – 27%
• I am afraid of damage – 26%
• I don’t want to pay – 24%
• I am afraid of loss – 23%

Airline passengers want to spend a maximum of 10 minutes for baggage collection and immigration/customs

The time spent in customs and for baggage collection seems to be one of the big pain points of airline passengers.

People are not willing to spend a lot of time going through customs or collecting their luggage.

80% of airline travelers want to spend 3 minutes to drop off their bag and 79% want to spend a maximum of 10 minutes at customs/immigration.

Yet the cruel reality is that sometimes, it takes 30 minutes or more… So one of the important things people want when flying is to have reduced time for luggage collection and immigration/customs gates.

Airline passengers want in-flight Wi-Fi

On-board wi-fi becomes a necessity – 53% of the surveyed passengers mentioned this – and here I have to admit that I am happy to see more and more companies offering it even for economy class. Great news;)

On the other hand, I admit I find things to do when flying even without an internet connection. I usually like to admire the view, I also have a book in my purse.

I read in-flight newspapers (being lucky enough to understand multiple languages so I can practice them in this manner).

Listening to music or watching a movie on the laptop are other in-flight activities that do not require an internet connection.

Airline passengers want to use technology to improve their travel experience (including smartphone check-in)

24% of the surveyed passengers in Asia want to book their flight using an app, and 14% of the airline passengers in the Middle East want to do the same thing.

What’s interesting is that 51% of the airline passengers want to do the check-in using their smartphone.

And I totally get this. It’s faster, easier, and more environment-friendly. And you don’t really risk using your boarding pass :D.

My husband, a frequent traveler, uses only his smartphone – as he gets the boarding pass via email and can show it at the gate.

Airline travelers want to enjoy the flight more and spend less time in lines and use fewer paper documents. And it’s only natural!

72% of airline travelers want to receive updated information on their personal devices throughout their journey.

We live in the information millennium. So this is no surprise!

This information about what airline passengers want was obtained after IATA got 10,877 responses from passengers across 166 countries. These airline passenger survey results show us the trends in flying right now, and it’s important to look at them and understand them – and even to know where things are going.

What do passengers want in airline services?

Well, apart from the elements mentioned above, airline passengers want:

• efficient queuing at the boarding gates – 60%
• not needing a bus/coach to get to the airplane – 51%
• availability of over-head space for hand luggage – 46%

In terms of disruption management, the airline passenger survey showed that passengers want in airline services:

• real-time and accurate information (flight status, bag information) – 55%
• automatic flight re-booking – 53%

You can check the IATA pdf to get more details.

What airline passengers HATE about flying

Now, this is a juicy topic. What do passengers hate about flying? The answer is: so many things!

Different people want different things and different people dislike different things.

Sometimes, what one does to be comfortable, annoys another person – think of reclining the seats.

This is a sensitive topic. Many say that it’s their right, as they have the option.

Others argue that doing that all of a sudden can lead to small injuries. On other occasions, reclining the seat leads to bruises on the passenger behind you – especially if they are taller…

The person behind can’t watch a movie anymore either – on many occasions.

Yes, I admit: I do now recline my seat, nor do I like it when the person in front of me does that.

Screaming kids are another topic. Yes, kids cry. But parents can find ways to keep them busy and avoid tantrums.

And yes, when you are tired or you go to work after the flight or you are on a long flight, you want as much silence as possible.

Respecting private space is another item. Please don’t stretch your legs/arms into my space. Don’t put your purse or bag in my space. I hate that. And I don’t do it to you!

Another thing airline passengers hate is people forming a line before the gate is open for boarding.

People grabbing their bag to be the first getting down from the plane is also annoying to some.

I admit that I found some of these reasons why passengers hate flying in a thread on Reddit – what do you hate the most about airline travel.

The discussion is quite interesting, and I recommend you to read it!

Now, over to you:

What do YOU want when flying? What do YOU have about flying?