In-flight services — particularly food and beverage — are crucial to passenger satisfaction, especially among international travelers, a new survey finds.
On flights to Asia and Europe, more than half of the overall in-flight passenger experience is dictated by food and beverage, according to the Airline International Destination Satisfaction Study from J.D. Power. Concurrently, passenger satisfaction with long-haul flights within North America is primarily driven by cost and fees.
While the food and beverage factor is essential to passenger satisfaction, there is an opportunity for improvement, the study found. Passenger satisfaction related to airlines’ food and beverage offerings is, on the whole, less than their satisfaction with the in-flight entertainment options airlines offer.
On flights to Europe, overall satisfaction with in-flight entertainment is 53 points higher (on a 1,000-point scale) than for food and beverage, according to the study. For Asia, the gap is 22 points.
The principal driver international passengers use to select an airline is their past experience with the airline (40 percent). Other factors include excellent customer service (36 percent), convenient scheduling (35 percent), reputation (33 percent) and cheaper ticket prices (31 percent).
Other variables, which domestic travelers weigh more heavily when choosing an airline — such as the availability of a direct flight, a lack of luggage fees and the availability of Wi-Fi — play a much less significant role in airline selection among international travelers.