Airline surveys: Travelers say seat size a problem

Seventy percent of survey respondents said they want airlines to invest in "onboard comfort." Credit: iStock / Sebastian Julian
Most Americans are content with air travel and prefer paying separately for food, drinks, entertainment and luggage instead of buying an all-inclusive airline ticket.
That is what Airlines for America, a trade group for the nation’s airlines, says it learned from an online survey of 3,019 American travelers. Of those surveyed, 80 percent said they were very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their air travel experience in 2015, and 67 percent said they prefer paying a la carte for onboard extras.
By contrast, a survey of 4,290 Americans commissioned by a Washington, D.C., travel coalition called Travelers’ Voice found that only 46 percent of respondents rated the airline industry as “favorable.”
Both surveys agree on one thing: Airline seats are a problem. More than 70 percent of respondents to the Airlines for America survey said they would recommend airlines investing in “onboard comfort,” and 61 percent of Travelers’ Voice respondents said “air travel experiences such as seat size” should be a top priority.