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For Immediate Release November 26, 2003
Contact: Cristi Allen
callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 817-640-6166

ARLINGTON, Texas—Despite their ongoing economic struggles, American Airlines and Delta Airlines are still the nation's favorite carriers, according to a survey by Decision Analyst, Inc., a marketing research and marketing consulting firm. However, on a less positive note for the big airlines, the survey (recently completed by a nationally representative sample of 5,184 consumers who travel by air at least once per year) found that cost is now the number one criterion when deciding which airline to fly with.

Survey respondents were asked to pick which airline they would choose to fly on if all airlines offered identical direct flights at the same fare. Both casual (traveling by air one or more times a year) and frequent (one or more times a month) fliers selected the big two (by passenger volume), American and Delta, as their airlines of choice (19 percent for both airlines with casual respondents, 22 percent for American and 17 percent for Delta among frequent fliers). Beyond these two, however, opinions separated between casual and frequent fliers. Southwest, now up to third in passenger numbers, was similarly placed as third most popular by casual travelers. Frequent fliers disagreed, putting United next (at 11 percent), and leaving Southwest in a tie for fourth with Continental.

"The big players are clearly dominant because of people's past experience," said Decision Analyst, Inc. Vice President Bruce Crandall, who supervised the study. "What's interesting is that the type of service offered by the low-cost airlines -- or, at least, by Southwest -- is just not as appealing to the frequent, typically business, traveler as is the 'traditional' airline model."

This preference for the traditional is reflected in reasons given by survey respondents to questions as to their ticket-choosing process. While price is now the most important factor (32 percent), the other key determinants are prior experience with the airline (24 percent) and the known quality (presumably based on prior flying experience) of the airline (13 percent). Interestingly, sources of frequent complaint -- onboard and pre-flight service -- are, in reality, almost irrelevant when it comes to deciding who to fly with (just 2 percent, combined).

"For the nation's airlines, two very different factors appears to be at work -- value and reputation," said Crandall. "For the low-cost carriers like Southwest, there is a clear market demand for their product. Yet those same airlines face a struggle overcoming the inertia of a sizeable proportion of travelers who remain committed to the likes of American and Delta. What will be interesting to see is if, with the recovering economy, the value factor declines in importance, or if the financial squeeze is going to keep hitting the big players. If that happens, reputation alone might not be enough for survival."

Methodology: The results are based on a nationally representative survey conducted online among 5,184 consumers who travel by air at least once per year, which was referenced with Census Bureau data for gender, age, geography, marital status, presence of children, and income. The study's margin of error is plus or minus one percent. Survey respondents were members of the American Consumer Opinion� online panel, one of the largest consumer panels in the world, which includes over 3.5 million consumers. The survey was open to adult consumers in the U.S.

Detailed findings: More information, including detailed data breakdowns, from the study is available online at http://www.decisionanalyst.com/publ_data/2003/BrandAwareness.dai.

For additional information contact:
Cristi Allen
Publicity
Email: callen@decisionanalyst.com
Phone: 1.800.ANALYSIS (262.5974)
Address: 604 Avenue H East
Arlington, TX 76011

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