Trust in airlines August 2023

Summary

• Trust in airlines has continued to decline this year since February 2023, which is unsurprising given another summer of delays and cancellations  (from +11 in February 2023 to 0 in August 2023).
• Trust varies between airlines, with higher-cost airlines like Emirates and British Airways seeing higher levels of trust. 
• Price and businesses acting in the best interest of the consumer are key factors to shape trust levels this month. 
• Consumers generally acknowledge that unforeseen issues, such as weather-related flight delays, can arise and are unavoidable. Therefore it is how an airline deals with the issues that really shape if a consumer can trust them.  

You can view more data and articles from our monthly tracker survey on our dedicated Consumer Insight Tracker page.

Consumer trust continues to fall after another summer of travel chaos.

This has been another turbulent summer for consumers wishing to travel. With a range of issues such as strike action, flight delays and cancellations, and extreme weather causing devastating issues across Europe. These issues, as seen last summer, have impacted the trust consumers have in the airline sector. 

In August, our data showed trust in airlines has continued to dip since February 2023 this year. Over a quarter (27%) of consumers said they trust airlines to act in their best interests, but a quarter (27%) said they do not, resulting in a net trust level of 0. This trust level has dropped from +11 in February 2023. The decline in trust comes as consumers see another summer of travel chaos, linked to ongoing travel disruptions like strikes, delays and cancellations. The levels were recorded prior to the air traffic control failure. 

Whilst levels of trust are at the lowest they have been this year, levels are still higher than this time last year (-12) in August 2022.  

Figure 1: Trust in the airline sector continues to decline this year

Perceptions and reputation of airlines generally impacts the level of trust. 

The continued decline in trust in the airline sector is unsurprising given the issues consumers have encountered. For many consumers, past experiences (both good and bad) often guide how much they trust or distrust them. As seen in our Cost of Living Panel, problems related to flights, such as delays, and the way consumers were treated, have diminished their trust in airlines. We asked respondents why they gave the low trust ratings that they did and their responses were as follows:

“Through previous bad experiences, they just leave you to [sort yourself out when delays occur] now.”

“I had an annoying experience with BA in 2014 during an online booking, which I still recall with much annoyance.” 

“Personal experiences with time delays”

Among consumers who are very trusting of airlines, a stand-out service experience, or an absence of problems  is likely to strengthen consumers’  trust in airlines. Below are explanations for why consumers gave a positive trust rating.

“I haven’t had negative experiences with all of them”

“Only travelling maybe once or twice a year I can't really say I've had no issues with airlines only the odd delay  so quite happy.”

“We have flown with Tui  and they have been very good.”

“I have experienced no issues when flying but have heard about bad cases”

When assessing trust levels between airlines, we see a lot of differentiation. Amongst the whole sample, Emirates and British Airways emerged as the most trusted airlines, with  the highest trust levels of +43. In contrast, Ryanair and Wizz Air recorded the lowest levels of trust, at -19 and -13, respectively. This trust discrepancy may be related to consumers' perceptions of brands, as many consumers tend to place more trust in higher-cost airlines more than in low-cost or budget carriers. Interestingly there appears to be an element of consumer expectations based on the price tag, for example, consumers expect to receive a lower quality from budget airlines (e.g. Ryanair and Wizz Air) compared to higher price airlines (e.g. Emirates and British Airways), and to some extent, this impacts trust levels. 

“Having flown with low-cost airlines (Wizz Air, EasyJet and Ryanair) in the past, the service/experience has been quite negative. Principally around bad service.”

 “The higher cost airlines seem to provide better service - in my experience.”

However this isn’t always the case, particularly when you examine the trust levels of individuals who have flown with specific airlines who are not necessarily the higher-cost airlines over the past three years. Whilst trust levels in those higher-end airlines remain high and continue to outshine those of other carriers, airlines like Jet2 and Tui tend to receive higher levels of trust among users compared to non-users. This tendency often stems from positive customer experiences and the way they have been treated as a customer.

 “I felt that TUI and Emirates look after their passengers well.”

“We have used Jet2 and have been impressed with how they get the passenger from a to b. Good desk service to book in your luggage.”

Figure 2: Trust was higher among users of a brand

Price is key factors shaping  trust levels

Price, in particular, appears to exert  influence on trust, especially when consumers feel these prices are high and are on the rise. 

“Their prices are usually extremely high”

“Prices are increasing and companies will just keep raising their prices”

Linking to price is the belief that companies are increasing their prices because they are looking out for their own profits, rather than looking out for the consumer. 

“I think a lot of airlines definitely focus on profits rather than their customer experiences.”

“The other airlines are very budget airlines, focused on making a profit and have not helped family/ friends when their flights have been cancelled in the past.”

How airlines handle issues is of paramount importance to consumers 

There is an acceptance held by consumers that things go wrong, for example the weather can delay flights as we have seen this summer in countries such as Greece who experienced wildfires. Therefore it is the way an airline handles these issues that ultimately determines whether a customer can place trust in them.

“The disruptions during Covid really brought things to the fore, with people struggling to get the compensation they were due, delayed payments/vouchers offered instead etc”

“[Airlines] never take ownership of a delayed flight”

“They are very bad at communicating with passengers when things go wrong.”

“I never had a problem with British Airways even when they have cancelled my flight they have given me an alternative”  

Which? Transform Travel Campaign 

Our insights show that after another summer of travel disruption, consumers' trust in the sector has seen yet another decline with households in our Cost of Living panel explaining how airlines have not always acted in their best interest. This supports Which?’s calls to put a stop to consumers being treated poorly when they have encountered disruption, with many airlines failing to inform customers of their rights. To do this, Which? believes the government needs to equip the aviation regulator (CAA) with powers to issue fines to companies that break the rules, and ensure they are acting in the best interest of consumers.

Methodology

 Data from the August wave of our Consumer Insight Tracker - an online poll conducted by Yonder on behalf of Which between 9th and 10th August 2023. A sample of 2,119 consumers was surveyed online and weighted to be nationally representative. 

Verbatim responses included in this article are taken from our Cost of Living Panel - a qualitative insight panel following 29 households over the course of a year as they grapple with the cost of living.