Survey

Serving yourself

SITA's second annual survey examines passenger perspectives of the self-service experience and trends in air travel

As self-service technologies continue to transform the air transport industry, SITA undertook the second annual Passenger Self-service Survey (PSS) to gauge passengers' experiences and expectations of "do-it-yourself" travel. The results confirm that travellers have embraced self-service as part of their travel routine and it is expected to become the primary method of reserving tickets and performing check-in, whether online or via kiosks.

"Giving passengers the ability to plan their own trip online, for example, is rated as a leading factor when making a reservation. Travellers surveyed considered this to be significantly more important than service offered by the airline, previous travel experience and airline loyalty. This confirms last year's findings and shows that offering passengers the ability to make their own arrangements on the web is now becoming increasingly fundamental for airline competitiveness," remarked Francesco Violante, CEO, SITA.

The survey also highlights the challenge facing self-service facilities when it comes to baggage. An overhang from yesteryear - that self-service facilities and baggage do not mix - continues to limit self-service check-in usage. In the 2006 PSS, 19 per cent of passengers surveyed cited baggage as their reason for avoiding self-service check-in, and this figure has increased to 24 per cent in 2007. The survey also bears out an important finding: the more passengers are in control of the travel process, the more control they want, and that self-service is continuing to transform passenger travel behaviour end-to-end.

Survey methodology

SITA's 2nd annual Passenger Self-Service Survey (PSS) - independent insight into the passenger usage of self-service technology was conducted at three of the world's busiest airports:

• Atlanta
• London Heathrow
• Hong Kong International.

The survey was managed by IATA Business Insight on behalf of SITA - 1,138 passengers were interviewed at the gate. 67 per cent of these passengers were leisure travellers, while 33 per cent were business travellers. Furthermore, 88 per cent of the respondents were flying by standard airlines while a mere 12 per cent flew by the low-cost carriers.

Applicability of the survey

The sample used is representative for each of the three airports covered by the PSS:

• 349 in Atlanta
• 402 in London Heathrow and
• 387 people in Hong Kong.

At each airport, the population is based on a representative and weighted sample of the local traffic between the various airlines flying from that airport. When combining the results of the three airports, the results are not a weighted average but a simple average over the total population surveyed. The results found at an airport cannot be considered applicable for the whole region or country, but give an indication of passengers' attitude, usage and preferences.

Key definitions

• Actual usage: The survey asked passengers what self-service options they used for their flight.
• Current usage: The survey asked passengers about their current usage of self-service alternative.
• Future usage: The survey asked passengers about their willingness to use self-service alternatives in the future.
• Preference: This is the ratio between the proportion of passengers that knew a self-service option was available to them for their flight and used it, versus those who did not use it.

Key findings

• Online booking actual usage is up overall since 2006: Confirming that booking via the internet is becoming the norm, the proportion of travellers that purchased their tickets online for flights on the day they were questioned - i.e. actual usage - rose from 47 per cent in 2006 to 49 per cent in 2007.
• There is a preference for online booking when passengers know it's available: Across the three airports surveyed, the ratio between people who knew online booking was available and used it against those who did not is 70:30 (64:36 in 2006), indicating a distinct preference for the online option when passengers know of its availability.
• Rising concerns on internet security: The 2007 survey highlights an increased lack of trust in the internet, coupled with negative perceptions of web security. The percentage of passengers who knew they could self-book but didn't use the online option for that reason almost doubled from seven per cent in 2006 to 12 per cent this year. This links to results from the 2007 Airline IT Trends survey which showed that 'lack of payment security and risk of fraud' is the number one business issue that airlines associate with online travel sales.
• 93 per cent of passengers surveyed are positive towards booking online in the future: Nine out of ten passengers interviewed in London Heathrow and Hong Kong and almost 97 per cent in Atlanta reported that they would use online booking engines in the future.
• More bags checked-in as security tightens: A particularly noteworthy outcome of the 2007 PSS is the increasing proportion of people that had to check-in one or more bags for their flight. Overall, nearly 83 per cent of the passengers interviewed had to check-in at least one bag for their flight, with a seven per cent increase at London Heathrow from the 2006 survey and an eight per cent increase in Atlanta.
• Self check-in growing adoption: The survey highlights a sharp jump in the actual use of self check-in options at those airports - up overall from 23 per cent last year to 30 per cent in 2007, with business/first class travellers opting for this facility more than their leisure counterparts.
• Baggage is still the number one reason respondents don't use self check-in: Baggage is once again cited by passengers as the top factor for declining self-service check-in, with a marked rise from 19 per cent in 2006 to 24 per cent in 2007, according to passengers who said it was available.
• An encouraging sign on remote bag drop services: It is encouraging to note however that the remote baggage drop concept - which liberates the passengers by enabling a total off-airport check-in process - is greeted with considerable enthusiasm among travellers, especially in Hong Kong (70 per cent) and Atlanta (64 per cent) with a lower result for London Heathrow (42 per cent).
• Online bookers use web check-in more: Online bookers know much more about self-service check-in and use it more frequently than passengers who don't reserve their flights via the web. This finding is even stronger in 2007, with 71 per cent (as compared to 60 per cent in 2006) of those who frequently book online actually using self-service to check-in, compared to 38 per cent of passengers that did not book online using self check-in.
• New in 2007 PSS: Mobile phone check-in - while mobile phone check-in is still in its infancy and is unfamiliar to most air travellers, the 2007 PSS aimed to gauge attitudes to this new technology. In Atlanta, 63 per cent expressed a positive attitude to mobile phone check-in, compared to 48 per cent in Hong Kong. In contrast, 69 per cent of passengers interviewed at London Heathrow were unfavourable to its adoption.
• Most passengers welcome self-service expansion: There is a marked increase in the number of travellers who would utilise kiosks for lost baggage notification - up from 40 per cent in 2006 to 50 per cent this year, while nearly 80 per cent of participating passengers are positive towards registering for a notification service dispatching flight information such as flight delays or gate change. Also, both surveys report that two thirds of respondents are favourable to using kiosks for transfer purposes.