Consumer Trust in Airlines Has Dropped Since January, Says Poll

A new survey has found that only one in four Americans planning to travel in the next three months trust airlines “a lot.” The survey was published on Thursday by Morning Consult.

For both “all U.S. adults” and for “frequent flyers,” trust is down by 4 percentage points since a survey at the start of the year.

The lack of trust is even more pronounced among frequent leisure travelers, with merely one in five saying they fully trust airlines. This result may reflect how frequent flyers have greater exposure to airline performance. Or else it may reflect how many frequent flyers think it’s hip to be jaded.

Sadly, airline executives think it’s hip to be jaded, too. Expect them to complacently ignore consumer complaints and trust that the flyers will keep coming back — with minimal brand damage.

Flyers are justified in their anger, though. Airlines have had a miserable performance this summer, and Skift’s Edward Russell recently explained why.

Here’s another fun result:

“Net trust in the primary U.S. carriers — American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines — among users of each brand is lower now than it was in the wake of the winter holidays.”

—Morning Consult