A new survey for Cirium reveals the impact of flight delays and cancellations and the need for better management of flight disruption, with more communication via proactive flight updates for affected passengers.
The survey also showed that 29% of “weather obsessed” Brits would be forgiving of disrupted flights caused by poor weather, while slightly more, 33%, would have the most understanding if there were a technical issue with their aircraft.
In 2018, approximately 3.9 million flights – or 10,700 a day – were delayed by over 30 minutes or cancelled globally, affecting more than 20 million passenger journeys in the UK and over 470 million around the world.
Flight delays and cancellations cost airlines in the UK and globally over £23bn (US$30bn) a year in lost revenue, in addition to costs borne by their passengers.
Airline flight delays and cancellations are caused by a wide range of factors, such as technical issues with aircraft, bad weather, air traffic control problems, strikes, medical diversions and congested airports, among many others.
The YouGov study conducted for Cirium showed over a quarter of people (27%) polled in the UK who had experienced a delayed or cancelled flight, did not find it easy to change their travel plans with nearly a sizeable third (32%) left out of pocket having to pay more to make alternative travel plans.
Airlines also had to bear the massive cost of disruption with flight delays and cancellations costing the equivalent of £5 (US$7) for every departing passenger – slightly less than the net profit per person per departing flight.
The survey revealed nearly two thirds (65%) of those polled only found out about their flight delay or cancellation once they had reached the airport. When asked, 29% of holidaymakers said they would prefer to be informed about a delay via a text alert, with over half (51%) saying they would use an app which alerted their friends, family or company about their delay.
Nearly two thirds of those surveyed (59%) said they would be most frustrated if their flight was affected while they were going on a leisure trip.
Sharp differences emerged in how those surveyed felt about the reason for a flight delay or cancellation. A third (33%) said they would be more understanding if a flight was delayed or cancelled because their aircraft experienced a technical issue, while another third (29%), said they would be more understanding if they were delayed by bad weather. However, only a tiny 3% had any sympathy with delays or cancellations due to problems caused by air traffic control.
The response from British adults was similar to the overall global opinion of those who were surveyed, as part of the poll. Overall, 31% of those surveyed in UK, UAE, China and the US said they wanted more information about their delayed and cancelled flights. Meanwhile, 35% of those who had experienced a delayed or cancelled flight, said they did not find it easy to change their travel plans, compared to UK travellers (27%).
Overall, more people globally (40%) said they’d been left out of pocket as a result of flight disruption, than just in the UK (32%) having to pay extra to make alternative travel plans. On a global level, 61% compared to 51% in the UK, were interested in using an app which alerted their friends, family or company if their flight was disrupted.
This data is used by a wide range of customers, such as airlines and airports, to improve the travel experience by smart devices and metasearch engines, like Google, Amazon and Expedia, to provide information directly to passengers, enabling them to make more informed choices when on the move.
