A study by the Airline Passenger Experience Association has indicated the lengths carriers may have to go to in order to satisfy their tech-hungry customers.
The organisation asked almost 3,500 regular air passengers from the around the world for their opinions on a range of topics, including their overall passenger experience, technology and in-flight entertainment and ticket purchasing.
Generally, only around a third (35%) of airline passengers were "very satisfied" with their last flight, with comfort and ambience considered the most important requirement for a enjoyable journey.
These factors came out higher than entertainment, good and service for the majority of passengers.
Inevitably, extra leg room is the most desired amenity for passengers.
Still, here are some of the results from the tech-focused areas of the study:
- Over half (55%) of passengers have downloaded an airline's mobile application.
- The most popular uses for airline apps are check flight status, check rates, make a reservation and check-in for a flight (but only 1% said they never used the app at all).
- Despite most passengers carrying a device, half of those included in the study still read the in-flight magazine.
- Around 25% of passengers had the opportunity to use a free IFE system of some kind.
- Only one in ten of fliers used a paid-for IFE.
- Smartphones are carried by 71% of passengers (45% using them in-flight); tablet 43% (30% used); MP3 player 23% (17% used); e-reader 22% (17% used); laptop computer 38% (16% used).
- Most common use of smartphone during a flight is music (48%), followed by games (42%), email/social media (36%), reading (24%) and watching downloaded movies/TV (16%).
- Preferred channel for watching IFE is the individual seat screen (70%), with own device via on-board wifi, pre-loaded tablet and own device with own movies coming in at 30%, 20% and 20% respectively.
NB:Airline mobile image via Shutterstock.