2011 SITA/ATW Passenger Self-Service Survey

Can it be that airlines, through the deployment of self-service technologies, have
mastered the flight ticket booking and check-in process? Whether using self-service kiosks in airports, his or her own computer or a mobile device, the modern air passenger appears to be very much like bypassing the old channels—call centers, travel agents and airport counters—for booking tickets and checking in for flights.

The newer methods have become more efficient and user friendly over the last several years, reaching the point where passengers generally don’t notice problems in the booking/checking-in portion of the air travel journey. But they are starting to wonder why the rest of the airport/flight experience isn’t as smooth.

These are among the findings by SITA after analyzing the results of its “2011 Passenger Self-Service Survey.” A leading provider of IT business solutions and communications services to the air transport industry, SITA exclusively shared the results of its sixth annual survey with ATW in a briefing at its US headquarters in Atlanta. The 2011 survey was conducted during the spring at five of the airports used for last year’s endeavor—Atlanta (ATL), Sao Paulo Guarulhos (GRU), Mumbai (BOM), Frankfurt (FRA) and Beijing (PEK)—plus Abu Dhabi (AUH), new to the survey this year.

Some 2,457 passengers traveling on 73 different airlines were interviewed at airport gates before boarding their flights. About 9% of the passengers were flying in first/business-class and 5% were traveling aboard LCCs, while 38% were transit passengers.

“The check-in process is very important [to passengers], but the level of improvement needed is there but not significant,” SITA director-strategy and market intelligence Catherine Stam, who studied and analyzed the survey results, said. “There seems to be some level of satisfaction with booking and checking-in . . . The [survey] population is not complaining too much. It seems like airports and airlines have started to do a pretty decent job on check-in, and now passengers are noticing other areas where improvement is needed.”

Passengers’ overall satisfaction is still influenced most by the standard metric airlines have been judged by since long before self-service kiosks appeared in airports: on-time performance. “Flight punctuality is a key contributor [to passenger satisfaction] that needs significant improvement,” Stam said. “Among the main contributors to a pleasant trip, staff friendliness is the second factor quoted as needing improvement . . . Among less important contributors to a pleasant trip: clear information, Wi-Fi access, prompt bag arrival and the inflight experience clearly need improvement.”

Interestingly, only 18% of interviewed passengers thought that security checkpoints needed improvement, according to Stam. Only 6% said passport control/customs clearance needed improvement. Among the passengers who do think improvement is needed in those areas, more than 80% said clearing security or customs should take less than 10 minutes.

Smartphone Trend

What jumped out from this year’s survey, particularly when compared to past results, is the rapid emergence of smartphones. “The percentage of interviewed passengers carrying smartphones has almost doubled over the last year [from 28% in 2010 to 54% in 2011], with over half of all interviewed passengers now carrying a smartphone,” Stam noted. She said this reflects broader trends worldwide, pointing out that global smartphone shipments leaped 73% year-over-year in the 2011 second quarter.

“There has been a phenomenal growth in the penetration of smartphones in the general population and that is reflected by passengers,” she said, noting that 74% of first/business-class passengers carry smartphones. “We are now in the smartphone era in terms of passenger communications. You can definitely see that airline passengers are iPhone people. It’s not an age thing, it’s not a business versus leisure thing. Everyone likes to carry an iPhone.” A total of 35% of surveyed passengers carrying a smartphone had an iPhone, while 28% carried a BlackBerry.

“We’re now dealing with a passenger who is equipped with a mobile device and expects airlines and airports to communicate with them directly,” Stam said. “ ‘Talk to me and give me what I need’ is the message we’re getting from passengers. But . . . they also want to do things on their own. Passengers are telling us, ‘I want to be independent. It’s my trip and I want to organize it.’ ”

The airline industry has moved to take advantage of this, with the most common communication to passengers’ mobile devices taking the form of SMS notifications regarding flight status. According to the SITA survey, 41% of business travelers receive SMS notifications from airlines and over 50% of first/business-class passengers and frequent flyers (those traveling by air at least 10 times annually) receive text messages.

But the desire to receive such information outpaces what airlines can deliver. Just as in 2010, 66% of passengers surveyed said they wanted to receive SMS messages from airlines. However, only 34% had actually received a text from an airline, although this was still up from 30% last year. “In Abu Dhabi, 90% don’t receive SMS notifications, but 59% of these passengers would like to sign up for the service,” Stam said.

Similarly, only 17% of passengers surveyed had used a mobile boarding pass, but 73% expressed a desire to do so. In the 2010 survey, 11% had used a mobile boarding pass with 37% wanting to use one. Some 28% of frequent flyers and 26% of smartphone users have boarded with a mobile pass at least once, according to the 2011 survey.

“Half of [frequent flyers/smartphone users] use mobile boarding passes whenever the service is available,” Stam said. “The main reasons for not using a 2D barcode boarding pass are preference for tangible paper and the complexity/risk of the mobile-based procedure . . . 2% of all interviewed passengers tried unsuccessfully [to use a mobile boarding pass], either because their mobile device was incompatible or because they did not understand the procedure . . .  It’s being adopted, but there are still people who are not comfortable with it.”

Meanwhile, the percentage of passengers’ interested in receiving messages on mobile devices from airlines/airports on shopping deals at airports continues to rise, but at a slow pace. About 8% of respondents wanted such messages in 2009, rising to 17% in 2010 and 19% in 2011. “Over 80% are just not interested,” Stam said. “It’s probably because you don’t know to what extent you’ll be inundated with this stuff . . .  In terms of airports and their tenants, the message is to continue communicating through traditional channels. [Mobile messaging] is just not there yet . . . Younger passengers and infrequent [two or fewer air trips per year] travelers show more interest.”

Passengers are expressing a strong desire to use Wi-Fi at airports. Stam noted that 66% of surveyed passengers said they would use Wi-Fi in an airport if it is available for free, with 92% of passengers in Beijing saying they would connect to free Wi-Fi. “Interest decreases with age, from 83% of 18-24 year olds to 63% of 55-plus,” she said. “It is good news in terms of being able to offer mobile applications to passengers and giving them access to a whole host of information while they are at the airport.”

Booking Online 

Overall, 64% of interviewed passengers had booked their trip online. More than 80% of ATL passengers had done so. “Smartphone users [71%] are more likely to book online than plain mobile phone users [54%],” Stam said. “Younger passengers are more likely to book online, with 73% of 18- to 24-year-olds having done so, versus 51% of 55-plus year olds.”

Some 52% of survey respondents who booked online had done so via an airline website, which remains “a key tool for booking online,” Stam said. Around 44% had booked through an online travel agency while 3% used a social-media booking tool. “Ninety-nine percent of Abu Dhabi passengers who had booked online has used the airline website,” she noted.

This, of course, creates new selling opportunities for airlines, which increasingly use their websites to offer services in addition to flight tickets, such as hotels and rental cars. “The interest [among passengers to book additional services through airlines] is there” but actual usage low, Stam explained. “There’s not a whole lot of pick up yet . . . What we think is that people are shopping [other sites online] for good deals. Airlines need to be more competitive with whatever else is offered [on their sites] because passengers are doing comparison shopping. They’re not just staying [at the airline website]” to book all trip-related services.

Across the board, passengers’ interest in using airline websites to do things other than book flight tickets exceeds actual usage. For example, 79% said they would be interested in using airline websites to modify reservations, but just 45% had done so. More than twice as many passengers (63%) desire to purchase preferred seating through airline websites than have actually done so (30%). While 55% would like to book a hotel through an airline website, only 25% had done so. Almost half (49%) said they would be interested in renting a car via a carrier’s website, but just 19% had done so.

Self-Serve Check-In

A small majority (55%) of surveyed passengers used self-service technology to check in, but this was significantly up from 40.5% last year. “Both online and airport kiosk check-in increased, while off-airport kiosk check-in—at a hotel, downtown airline office, train station, convention center, rental car office—is showing early signs of adoption,” Stam said. “People are using kiosks. Even business travelers [who are generally most aware of online check-in options] are using them.”

“It seems to indicate where we’re going: The counter becoming . . . used for complex situations and providing special customer care . . . Who’s using the counters? Well, the infrequent travelers in general.” She noted that 63% of surveyed passengers who travel by air twice or less annually checked in via an airport counter.

The survey found that the number of passengers checking bags continues to gradually drop. In 2008, 82% of surveyed passengers had checked at least one bag, dropping to 70% in 2010 and 67% in this year’s survey.

“Seventy-five percent of transit passengers checked in a bag,” Stam said. “Unsurprisingly, frequent flyers check in fewer bags, with 52% of those who take 10-plus trips per year having checked in a bag versus 80% of those who take two or fewer trips per year.”

Part of what determines the percentage of passengers checking in through self-service options is availability. At some airports, such as ATL, most passengers are forced to at least attempt to check in via self service. At AUH, on the other hand, more than half of surveyed passengers said self-service check-in was not available. (Interestingly, 13% of AUH passengers had used an off-airport bag check.)

Even passengers dealing with agents may go to airport counters less frequently. The survey found that 1% of passengers checked in via roaming airline staff carrying mobile terminals. “The roaming agents are going to become more common,” Stam said. “They’re agents who are completely equipped with a mobile device able to check in passengers. We’re starting to see those appear. I know it’s a very low percentage, but it is visible. Airline staff are changing roles in airports. It’s a new trend.”

Generally, passengers are open to new options. “Interviewed passengers display a positive attitude towards new self-service offers, with self-boarding generally attracting the highest interest,” Stam said. Around 70% said they would be interested in a self-boarding gate, while 65% were positive about a self-service bag drop, 63% would like to track their checked bag’s location from a mobile device and 62% are willing to tag their own checked bag.