Fascinating results of a study by Travelzoo after examining how travellers feel about how they use the web and mobile devices (or not)Â when on a flight.
The survey of almost 3,000 consumers in the UK, France, Germany and Spain looked at issues such as what devices are being used, desire to connect to the web on-board and what they might do with full connectivity.
The results appear to be skewed slightly – presumably because of the Travelzoo database – towards leisure travellers, as wanting to work mid-flight does not appear to be a high requirement.
Also, the general lack of web connectivity on European airlines is clearly a factor in the results, as opposed to availability of wifi services on many North American airlines.
Have you ever flown on a plane where you have been allowed to use a mobile device for either internet or making phone calls during the flight?
| UK | France | Germany | Spain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 14.55% | 8.05% | 20.67% | 9.39% |
| No | 85.45% | 91.95% | 79.33% | 90.61% |
Have you ever used the in-flight phone service on a flight?
| UK | France | Germany | Spain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 4.58% | 3% | 4.73% | 26.91% |
| No | 85.60% | 80.18% | 92.61% | 52.01% |
| Don't know what this is | 9.82% | 16.82% | 2.66% | 21.08% |
Are you concerned that mobile phone use on planes could put the safety of a plane at risk?
| UK | France | Germany | Spain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 62.22% | 61.40% | 54.53% | 83.57% |
| No | 37.78% | 38.60% | 45.47% | 16.43% |
Which of the following statements do you agree with most?
| UK | France | Germany | Spain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I think it's convenient and a good idea to be able to use phones on flights. | 4.85% | 3.90% | 8.33% | 8.87% |
| I don't mind either way whether or not I can use my phone on a flight. | 30.22% | 51.43% | 22.88% | 46.78% |
| I think mobile phone use is a bad idea on flights but I would still fly on mobile-enabled flights. | 36.78% | 19.22% | 39.87% | 31.71% |
| I would avoid booking with an airline or on a route if I knew passengers would be able to use their phone during the flight. | 28.15% | 25.45% | 28.92% | 12.64% |
Do you want to be able to access the internet when on a flight?
| UK | France | Germany | Spain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | 37.34% | 50.65% | 38.66% | 78.27% |
| No | 62.66% | 49.35% | 61.34% | 21.73% |
Please tick which of the following devices you would be most likely to use to access the internet on a flight?
| UK | France | Germany | Spain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tablet device i.e. iPad | 11.85% | 22.22% | 14.52% | 25.46% |
| Smartphone i.e. BlackBerry/iPhone/Android | 25.29% | 15.13% | 22.88% | 25.46% |
| Laptop computer | 21.91% | 36.41% | 31.92% | 36.46% |
| None | 40.96% | 26.24% | 30.68% | 12.63% |
What would you use an internet-ready device for on a plane? (tick all that apply)
| UK | France | Germany | Spain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Catching up with emails | 23.53% | 24.31% | 25.97% | 23.29% |
| Social media i.e. sending tweets/updating Facebook | 10.20% | 4.44% | 7.05% | 10.45% |
| Finding out information about the destination I am visiting | 20.78% | 22.64% | 22.01% | 19.18% |
| Looking for deals to take advantage of at my destination | 15.08% | 9.58% | 11.96% | 13.17% |
| Entertainment i.e. watching movies/playing games | 17.12% | 21.67% | 16.47% | 21.56% |
| Work | 6.44% | 12.50% | 11.56% | 10.37% |
| Other | 6.85% | 4.86% | 4.99% | 1.98% |
Existing in-flight entertainment: what do you use it for?
| UK | France | Germany | Spain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Movies and TV programmes | 51.28% | 45.51% | 45.82% | 39.23% |
| Radio/music | 24.57% | 22.36% | 34.07% | 34.71% |
| Info about the airline/destination you are visiting | 19.36% | 28.82% | 17.99% | 13.58% |
| Other | 4.79% | 3.31% | 2.12% | 12.48% |
What else would you like to have on in-flight entertainment?
| UK | France | Germany | Spain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access to the internet | 28.82% | 37.45% | 32.80% | 40.92% |
| Social networks (Facebook/ Twitter/ LinkedIn) | 10.95% | 6.81% | 14.19% | 14.38% |
| Deals for the destination you are heading to | 29.98% | 34.68% | 5.89% | 30.17% |
| Nothing more than is currently offered | 30.25% | 21.06% | 13.92% | 14.53% |
If flights had connectivity to the internet would you leave any of the following to the last minute when you are on the flight?
| UK | France | Germany | Spain | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Booking your hotel | 5.35% | 12.47% | 4.28% | 6.27% |
| Booking entertainment and/or dining for your trip | 15.66% | 19.91% | 14.22% | 27.19% |
| Connecting with friends or family at your destination to arrange plans | 15.33% | 30.63% | 22.94% | 27.19% |
| None of the above | 62.62% | 36.11% | 54.28% | 36.69% |
| Other | 1.04% | 0.88% | 4.28% | 2.66% |
If anyone has a link to US (or other region) comparable figures it would be interesting to see them.
Personally I’m in sympathy with the overall findings – particularly bearing in mind how short many intra European flights are. In a 1 hour flight, by the time you rule out all the “seat belts on” time there is precious little time to connect anyhow. Even in a 2 hour flight, eliminating the time to eat what the airlines please to call “food” there’s not much time to connect either.
Given how easy and convenient it is to carry books, audio and video with you in smartphone or PC or tablet/Kindle clone where is the SIGNIFICANT advantage to paying for connectivity for entertainment?? And all those emails can easily wait a while anyhow! Who really cares that you can tweet that you are seated in 16c?
As for the prospect of sitting next to some poor soul with verbal diarrhoea who cannot bear to be away from their mobile phone – the very prospect fills me with horror and makes me reach for my trusty Bose headphones to get a little peace!
Allowing cell phone use during flight is an incredibly bad idea. It will cause serious “air-rage” onboard flights. Who wants to sit next to someone yacking away? I don’t want their radiation exposure either. If they are ever allowed, I –WILL– tell the person next to me to stop it.
@gregg – do you own a mobile phone? If yes, how do you handle the radiation from it?
More importantly, how do you handle the radiation already present at altitude (approximately double your daily radiation dose for every 2 hours of flight)?
Agree! It would be incredibly annoying to hear multiple telephone conversations while you’re trapped on a plane. I listened to some woman on an SF bus tell her boyfriend/husband/fiance/mistress/whatever that ‘No, I love YOU more!” for 20 minutes the other morning and thought I was going to flip. Can’t imagine a four hour flight with that next to me.
Right with you there Greg – except for the bit about radiation exposure – such as it is, it’s trivial.
Thanks for running the results of this survey.
Living in the San Francisco Bay Area, I’ve found that flying to London’s Heathrow, staying a couple of days in London to get over jet lag, and then flying on to the Continent makes a lot of sense.
My survey of intra-European flights showed that I could reach many cities in just one-to two hours of flying time from London. If I had Internet access on such flights, I would use it to check and send e-mail, post to my Website (www.talestoldfromtheroad.com), my personal trip blog, and to Twitter and Facebook.
I might also use on-board Internet access to book a dinner reservation for the night of my arrival, or timed-access to a museum the following day.
Really bizarre results.
Living in the UK / Europe for six years now, I didn’t realise how much of a Luddite culture it actually is here.
I see a few comments about short-haul European flights here, but Brits and Europeans take plenty of long-haul, 4+ hour flights as well, so one might of expected not so strongly skewed sentiment because of that type of traveler.
Certainly would not have expected to see fear relating to using mobile phones and their possible disruption to on-board navigation systems, etc. Looks like the airlines conditioning to “switch off” mobile devices has become effectively ingrained in many passengers.
Living in London and, as a very frequent traveler, I personally would love to be able to get online for a whole host of reasons. I find it very refreshing when traveling in North America that wi-fi is available… that is, when you can get a decent signal strength.
I suspect, results from an American survey would be dramatically different. Americans, in general, are “switched on” and “connected” to their jobs much more than most Europeans.
I do agree with the potential irritant of having someone in the seat next to me constantly chatting away during the length of the flight. Although, obscenely high roaming charges / tariffs would quickly put a stop to that one.
Interesting results nonetheless.
Having spent a little time putting out some thoughts on what airlines, Gogo, Row44, etc could do with their WiFi services in the US to drive ancillary revenue, it’s interesting to see the European perspective.
If most fliers have not had much of a chance to even have a good in-flight WiFi experience yet – both in the connectivity itself and in the web/entertainment experience – how much do you think these results may change if the services actually improve and airlines market them more aggressively?
@John Pope – perhaps what you see as “luddite” is simply a more circumspect attitude towards the “value” of technology?
There is no reason why Europeans have to have the same views or values as the US – we have longer vacations, which people in the US often see as inappropriate – we simply see it as sensible and civilised, reflecting a mature balance between work and the rest of life. Similarly with being “connected” all the time – Europeans espoused simple, effective, connectivity (SMS) long before the US discovered it and whilst you were still operating with the primitive “pager” concept. But that does not mean we have to “value” being tethered to an “always on” “interrupt driven” electronic world in the same way or to the same degree as the USA.
@Dick – it may seem odd to you personally – but there are a lot of people (ie the majority! – despite the hype) who see little or no merit in “tweeting” and posting continual facebook updates about their lives and are massively indifferent to the outpourings of those who do. So, they neither need connectivity to disgorge their own ramblings or to read those of others!
@Johnathan A – “ancillary revenue” – ah, so rather like those in flight phones I never used because of the ridiculous cost, the idea is that I pay silly money for the “privilege” of doing something marginally sooner than I could have done by waiting until I land. Personally, I don’t think so!
PS – least anyone suspect that I am “luddite” – regular smartphone user since they came out and many generations of sophisticated PDAs before that, early pioneer of home working from as long ago as the late ’80s (when a modem was as big as a laptop is now!) and laptop-toting corporate road warrior since laptops were invented – and yes, I have used in flight wifi.
I remember discussing it with the head of Boeing’s ill-fated project to provide it after using it on several intercontinental flights and expressing then exactly the personal (and I stress that) reservations that I have now.
@Sceptical corporate traveller
Did you get into a fight with your missus last night, or is that a permanent chip on your shoulder?
None of us, especially not me, will ever question your technical “street cred” again (not that anyone did in the first place), based on the roster of gadgetry you’ve successfully mastered. I bow to you, oh mighty Cyber Warrior!
As far as your previous rantings, I did not insinuate, or suggest, that (North) American “connectedness”, Wi-Fi consumption or work habits are, in any way, superior to that of European culture… just different, and that we may very well see different results from a similar survey for a US sample.
On the other hand, it does sound as if you are insinuating that European culture is more superior – having used the phrases “more circumspect attitude”, “we simply see it as sensible and civilised”, “reflecting a mature balance between work and the rest of life.” Now, I’m no expert in arrogance (well, maybe I have some experience), but are you suggesting cultural superiority over your American brethren? Tisk tisk, if that is the case.
I’ll leave @Dick and @Jonathan to engage with you on your condemnation of their comments, but watch with great interest to see if they reply to your curmudgeonry… should be fun!
Also, I’m Canadian, by the way, and would not want my sarcasm to needlessly reflect poorly on my American friends. We Canadians love everybody, just sometimes not everybody’s ideas. We are, however, guilty of being uncivilised scoundrels, like our neighbors to the south, every now and again… especially, to “some”
of our more “persnickety” European allies (you know who I’m talking to 
).
Alas, farewell @Sceptical corporate traveller, I look forward to meeting you again on the battlefield of words and ideas… but in your case, definitely not meeting you in the seat next to me on a future flight!
Cheerio, and all that good stuff. It’s been a tiny slice of heaven
P.S. You might want to consider taking a yoga class or twenty, it’s great for stress.
@Kevin you site this as a Travelzoo survey, but I can seem to find these results on their sites. When was this released, and how to review the original source?
@alex s – not sure if it’s released publicly yet, Travelzoo gave the data to Tnooz exclusively as we helped shape some of the questions
@Kevin – thanks for the quick reply. I’ll keep an eye out for the release.
Actually, Sceptical, your observation in your original post, “Given how easy and convenient it is to carry books, audio and video with you in smartphone or PC or tablet/Kindle clone where is the SIGNIFICANT advantage to paying for connectivity for entertainment??” is just what I’m encouraging airlines to understand.
Digital media battles are cutthroat, and in the US anyway, perhaps 85+% of travelers carrying mobile devices in the near future (Android, Apple, Amazon’s new Kindle lineup, maybe MSFT) will have unprecedented digital media libraries at their fingertips to download any time.
Now that airlines and Gogo (and Row44) have made such sizeable capital investments in WiFi installs and are finally revamping the consumer product, they need to market that experience aggressively “outside the flight”.
Certainly a segment of people will pay for WiFi to “tweet”, do email, surf, or stream entertainment, but airlines need to understand that when it comes to IFE, they’re not just offering a siloed IFE experience that people will wait to pay for any more. They’re competing in the broader digital media industry for that time window around the flight.
If you want to really poke holes in what I’m advocating, feel free to click on my name above and you may find a good way to waste a few minutes at work…