NEW YORK -- In a survey undertaken during the second week after
terrorists used hijacked planes to attack the U.S., Plog Research
found a relatively high degree of confidence in air travel among
Americans who fly with some frequency.
According to NFO Plog Research's Travel Confidence Index, the
242 respondents in the online survey gave an overall comfort rating
of 7.0 on a 10-point scale.
Among all
respondents, 55% said they would take the air trips planned within
the following four weeks; 7% would postpone; 13% would cancel and
make new plans, and the remaining 25% had not planned a trip.
Among those who had a business trip on tap, 87% said they would
take the trip; 9% would postpone; 4% would cancel and substitute
some other plan.
Among those whose next trip was to be for leisure, 83% said they
would take the trip; 12% would postpone; 5% come up with some other
plan.
In general, those air travelers with no trips planned were less
willing to accept risk than were those with trips booked, and
leisure travelers were more likely to postpone or cancel than were
business flyers.
Participants were asked for their level of concern in four
areas.
Adequacy of
security measures at U.S. airports causes the most concern (at 6.9
on a 10-point scale). Other scores for the following were: ability
to fly safely internationally (5.6); sabotage/terrorism on planes
(5.3), ability to fly safely on U.S. commercial airlines (5.2).
Respondents, both business and leisure, believe air travel will
return to normal for them fairly quickly: Two-thirds said they
expected "business as usual" within a month. However, less than 2%
thought the country would be back on track that fast.
"The resilience of U.S. travelers expressed in this initial
survey is heartening, but it's 'early days' still," cautioned John
Antonello, president of NFO Plog Research. "Many factors will
impact how flyers actually behave, especially business travelers,
who are affected by such things as company policy and the overall
economic outlook."
Survey participants were flyers from NFO Plog's Travel Namebank,
equally split between those who reported flying last for business
and for leisure.