Opinions of frequent flyers to be announced; summer travel forecast discouraging

Dean Headley and Brent Bowen, co-authors of the Airline Quality Rating, will announce the first national AQR Frequent Flyer Survey at 10 a.m. CDT Thursday, May 22.

The media are invited to attend either simultaneous news conference in Wichita, Kan., or Omaha, Neb.

It is recommended that national media contact local broadcast affiliates for audio and video coverage of the news conferences. The news conference in Wichita will be held in the Morrison Hall boardroom at Wichita State University.

The news conference in Omaha will be hosted by Elliott Aviation on the east side of the Omaha Eppley Airfield. Weather permitting, it will be held outside with the airline terminal in the background.

The full press release, data and charts will be available at 11 a.m. CDT Thursday, May 22, exclusively at AQR.aero. Headley and Bowen will be available for individual interviews immediately following the news conference.

Headley is associate professor and chair of the department of marketing at the W. Frank Barton School of Business at Wichita State University. Bowen is a professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Information about consumer sentiment toward current air travel will be revealed. The researchers also will discuss the upcoming summer travel season and project what airline passengers should expect during this busy time.

The survey has more than 5,000 participants and represents less than +/- 2 percentage points of error.

According to Headley and Bowen, the flying public is fed up. They are demanding accountability, which is the purpose of the flyer survey.

Additional information to the national survey will include:

  • Data request from a member of Congress who sponsors the Airline Passenger Bill of Rights legislation
  • The launch of the second phase of the national Frequent Flyer Survey
  • AQR data that will give a glimpse into the summer travel season
  • The establishment of the AQR Quarterly Report presented by AQR Aero Inc.