And the Nation With the Most Unhappy Flyers Is…
Joe Cortez November 06, 2014
According to a recent survey, 28 percent of Americans are dissatisfied with their travel experience.
Americans are officially the unhappiest travelers in the world, according to a recent survey conducted by aviation IT specialists at SITA. Skift reports the survey found 28 percent of American flyers expressed dissatisfaction with their travel experience, leading the world in travel complaints.
The SITA annual report polled a number of international travelers in order to better understand air travel around the world. Asian travelers were the second most unhappy, with 23 percent of respondents expressing dissatisfaction with the modern flying experience.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, travelers in the Middle East and Europe were found to be the happiest. Only 16 percent of Middle Eastern travelers and 18 percent of European travelers expressed dissatisfaction with their travels.
The majority of flyers polled agreed that baggage retrieval was the worst part of the travel experience, and nearly three-quarters of respondents said they would like to see either some or significant improvement to the process. Other common complaints made by travelers included a better airport security and border crossing experience, easier airfare price searches and comparison, and more help organizing ground transportation upon arrival.
SITA found that the travel experience will improve as technology becomes more customer-oriented. Over half of the travelers surveyed said creating a better fare shopping experience, real-time flight information and in-flight Wi-Fi access would be the best improvements for the passenger experience.
[Photo: iStock]
It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that American's are the most unhappy with flying, given the general treatment you get when flying on an American carrier. That said, I'm a little surprised that Asia came in second. I've generally found Asia to be a relativity easy place to fly in. Whilst stories of extreme efficiencies are often over stated, in my experience flying there has generally been pretty good. Again, middle eastern not surprising that it’s generally good, but again a little surprised that Europe is considered up there as well. I guess it all comes down to expectations.
Of course they would be, americans rarely use public transport and are use to wide open spaces, once you pack them in like sardines they get mad