A Crisis In The Air

Over the years that I’ve lived in Cincinnati, my nonstop options have dwindled as Delta has made a steady retreat from this market. On Monday, I had to get to Toronto for a client workshop, but luckily, I didn’t have to take the Delta connection through Minneapolis because Air Canada had a rare nonstop. I say “luckily” with great emphasis — as I waited to board my Air Canada flight, the same Delta flight out of Minneapolis went belly up on the snowy runways of Toronto’s airport. Air travel is so much a part of business today that we approach it with a sense of monotony — that is, until something goes terribly wrong. And a lot of things have been going wrong recently with airline safety.

Survey Says …

The recent spate of airline disasters has jangled flyers’ nerves. To get a pulse check on consumer sentiment, we asked respondents in the US, UK, and Canada how they felt about the state of air travel. Almost half (46%) believe flying is less safe now, and of those who have taken a flight in the last 12 months, 25% made a safety-based decision about air travel. That last number is reasonably large but may still surprise those who would think the fear of something going wrong in the air would trump all other motivations — we’ll get to that in a bit.

 

*Note: This poll was administered to a random sample of online consumers in the US, the UK, and Canada in Forrester’s qualitative ConsumerVoices online community. This data is not weighted to be representative of total country populations.

Fear Is Shifting Behavior

Travelers are spooked enough by the recent events that they are changing how they travel. Some are choosing not to, while others are changing their modes of transportation. Those who continue to fly are reevaluating their brand choices:

“I have driven more for safety concerns.”

“I take car, bus, or train.”

“I think I pay more for a flight with a more well-known airline when given the opportunity for their PERCEIVED reputation (which equates to safety in my mind, but I know that’s not always the case).”

“I won’t fly on a Boeing airplane for safety reasons.”

Consumers Want Reassurances

Our respondents believe that airlines should do what it takes to make travel safe and communicate their efforts transparently and proactively.

Double down on safety and make the experience feel safe

“Airlines can make sure planes are properly inspected and crew members are properly trained.”

“Have the pilot speak to passengers at the beginning of the flight.”

Communicate transparently

“Explain to passengers the safety record … outline the various safety measures the airline takes to ensure the well-being of its passengers.”

“Provide clear explanations for any recent incidents and how they are being addressed.”

Don’t wait; proactively manage perception

“Launch safety marketing campaigns to educate consumers.”

“Better PR after incidents, instead of letting the media create narratives for them.”

Why Isn’t Safety Paramount?

If you’re shocked that only 25% of flyers made a safety-based decision about travel, it’s not because safety is unimportant but because they consider most airlines to be safe. To use analytical lingo, it’s a stated need but not a derived need. To use marketing lingo, it’s table stakes and not a differentiator. There are some attributes such as trust and safety that are of paramount importance to the consumer, but in many mature markets with large, established legacy players (such as banking and airlines), they do not play a role in driving consumer choice. People don’t choose between United, American, and Delta based on safety.

Why does this matter to marketers? If you’re building your brand’s value proposition, you have to anchor it not just on what is important to the customer but also on what differentiates your brand. Getting there requires a few extra layers of analysis beyond just asking your customer.

(Tyler Castro contributed to the analyses and research for this post.)

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