Passenger expectations continue to evolve. In our recent IATA webinar, What your passengers expect next (and how your airline stacks up), we explored what travellers value most today and how those preferences are shifting. We also addressed a key challenge for many airlines: measuring customer satisfaction in a way that is reliable, comparative, and relevant to the aviation sector.
If you missed the live session, the full recording is available on demand (access form below). Here are some of the key insights we shared during the session to give you a sense of what was covered.
New insights from the Global Passenger Survey
The webinar began with an overview of the latest Global Passenger Survey results. The findings highlight the importance of speed and convenience across the passenger journey, two factors that remain central to traveller satisfaction.
As illustrated in the graph below, passengers across different travel profiles have clear expectations when it comes to how long it should take to reach the departure gate. These expectations set a benchmark for what many now consider a smooth and efficient airport experience.
We also examined why travellers do not always choose the lowest-priced ticket. As you can see in the visual below, factors such as travel time, loyalty benefits, and past experiences play a critical role in purchase decisions and often outweigh cost alone.
Boarding: a key moment to get right
As part of the webinar, we examined specific stages of the passenger journey to identify where expectations are not being met. One example was the boarding process. According to the Global Passenger Survey, this stage presents several opportunities for improvement.
As the graph below shows, efficient queuing, ease of access to the aircraft, and the availability of overhead space consistently ranked as top concerns for passengers.
Segment-specific expectations
We also looked at how passenger preferences differ across demographics. One key takeaway: when price is removed from the equation, travellers under 25 years old are especially influenced by their previous experience with an airline.
As illustrated in the chart below, past airline experience ranks as the top reason for choosing a flight among this age group—higher than other common decision drivers like travel time or loyalty programmes. These generational insights offer valuable input when shaping retention and loyalty strategies.
Watch the webinar on demand
To view the full webinar recording, including all the insights shared, please complete the form below:
Related resources to explore further
Looking to dive deeper into the data or benchmark your airline’s performance? These two IATA resources can support your next steps:
PaxInsight
Understand how your airline performs compared to the competition. PaxInsight gives you access to standardised, airline-specific passenger satisfaction insights, so you can benchmark your performance, identify gaps, and make more informed customer experience decisions.
Global Passenger Survey (GPS)
Get access to the complete set of results from IATA's latest passenger research. The Global Passenger Survey offers in-depth insights into traveller expectations, behavious, and satisfaction drivers across the journey-helping you shape strategies that are grounded in real passenger feedback.
