Travel Leaders poll: 68% satisfied with airport security
New York May 31 2017 Satisfaction with airport security has risen from last year, according to a survey from Travel Leaders Group.
This year, 67.7% of respondents said they were satisfied with airport security, while 17.4% were neutral and 14.9% were unsatisfied. Comparatively in 2016, 63.6% said they were satisfied, 19.4% were neutral and 17% were unsatisfied.
In the years prior, from 2013 to 2015, more travelers were reporting they were satisfied or neutral mostly every year, while the number of unsatisfied travelers had decreased from 18% in 2013 to 11.6% in 2015. That number spiked to 17% in 2016 but fell again this year.
Travel Leaders Group also polled travelers on airport security wait times, and 51.5% said they were “OK with the amount of time it takes” to get through airport security, compared to 52.3% last year. This year, 43.8% said they “wish it was somewhat quicker,” compared to 33.8% last year. Meanwhile, the number “frustrated by the amount of time it takes” fell from 13.9% in 2016 to 4.7% this year.
The survey results pointed to an uptick in the number of travelers registered in trusted traveler programs. This year, 21.9% of respondents said they were enrolled in Global Entry, up from 18.6% last year, and 39.3% said they were enrolled in TSA PreCheck, up from 32.4% last year. Travel Leaders Group said only 2.1% of respondents were enrolled in Clear this year.
As it has for the past four years of the survey, respondents indicated they would most like to eliminate the security measure of taking their shoes off, followed by “none, do not eliminate any security measures,” “extensive pat-down,” “limiting liquids in carry-on baggage” and “laptop removal.”
“There were plenty of lessons to be learned from last year’s struggles with extremely long security lines,” Travel Leaders Group CEO Ninan Chacko said in a statement. “Based on our newly released survey data, increasing TSA checkpoint personnel and encouraging more travelers to enroll in TSA PreCheck or Global Entry have had the desired impact.”
The survey was conducted April 3 to 30 and includes responses from 2,854 U.S. consumers.
Travel Weekly
