Capital City Airport Passenger Survey Summary

Published February 18, 2004

Capital City Airport Passenger Survey Summary
Lansing State Journal, MI

2003 Survey of Passenger Opinions about Capital City
vs. Other Airports 

Executive Summary prepared by Charles Atkin,
Communication Research Institute 

Survey interviews measuring air travel perceptions,
attitudes, and behaviors were conducted with N=400
adults in Capital City Airport. In addition, reactions
were obtained for current print and radio ads
sponsored by the airport. The research project was
carried out from mid-October to late November 2003.
Many questions are identical to questions posed in
parallel surveys of 400 adults conducted at the
airport d uring the same months in 2001 and 2002;
comparisons to the earlier findings are presented in
italics. 

1. Background Characteristics of Sample 

Slightly more than half of the respondents are male.
The average age is 47 years old. More than two-thirds
have a college education. The age and education level
are slightly higher than in the 2001 and 2002 samples.


Respondents reported flying an average of eleven trips
per year (eight from Lansing), compared to an average
of nine trips in each of the past two years. As was
the case in 2002, 69% of those at CCA had also flown
from other airports in the past year: 56% from
Detroit, 22% from Grand Rapids, and 19% from Flint
(which increased from 11% in 2002). 

2. Satisfaction with Airline Service at Capital City 

This year, 92% say that they are "satisfied" with the
airline service provided at Capital City Airport,
while 3% are "dissatisfied" and the rest have mixed
feelings or no opinion; level of satisfaction is same
as 2002 and higher than the 81% figure in 2001. By a
81%-to-5% margin, flyers perceive that it's faster to
go through security at LAN rather than DTW. 

3. Advantages of Other Airports 

When asked why they sometimes fly from GRR/FNT, 64% of
respondents cite lower fares (up from 52% last year)
and 26% say better schedules (down from 36%).
Relatively few mention avoiding lengthy connections or
seeking greater reliability. Two-fifths of GRR/FNT
flyers say they spend no more than a half-hour extra
time driving to these airports than to LAN. 

4. Advantages of Flying from Lansing vs. Detroit 

In response to an open-end question, flyers prefer
Lansing airport rather than Detroit primarily because
it's convenient (64%) and to avoid the long drive
(60%). Secondary advantages are avoiding congestion
and saving on parking charges. Flyers also rated the
persuasiveness of ten specific reasons on a 0-to-10
scale (10= most persuasive): 


9.2 It's a much shorter drive to Lansing airport (9.2
in 2002 and 9.1 in 2001) 
9.2 It's more convenient to use the Lansing airport
(9.1 and 9.0) 
8.8 It's easy to fly from the Lansing airport (8.6 and
8.3 ... increasing) 
8.6 The Lansing airport is smaller and less crowded
(8.5 and 8.4) 
7.5 There's too much traffic congestion around Detroit
airport (7.8 and 7.9 ... decreasing) 
7.1 The parking lot is much closer to the Lansing
airport terminal (7.1 and 6.2) 
6.5 The parking lot feels more secure at the Lansing
airport (6.2 and 6.3) 
6.3 There may be lower airfares for flights out of
Lansing (6.4 and 7.1 ... still down) 
6.2 You can save on the cost of gasoline by not
driving to Detroit (5.7 and 6.2 ... back up) 
5.9 Parking is much less expensive at the Lansing
airport (5.0 and 5.8 ... back up) 

5. Airfare Comparisons 

When asked to compare the relative cost of airfare
from Lansing vs. Detroit, 45% perceive that LAN is
higher and 17% perceive LAN to be lower (similar to
2002); the rest say it's the same or don't know. 

Those perceiving a higher cost from LAN estimate that
they would pay an average of $80 more for a flight to
the west coast and $70 more to the east coast (both
figures $10 lower than 2002). 

When all respondents were asked the additional amount
they would be willing to pay to fly to Florida from
Lansing rather than Detroit, the average amount is $40
(same as last year). 

6. Satisfaction with CCA facilities 

A new set of questions asked about several features
and services at Capital City Airport. Two-fifths are
aware of the Business Center; only 7% have used it,
but 27% say they might use it in the next year. Almost
all flyers are satisfied with the appearance and
cleanliness of the airport, but less than half are
satisfied with the restaurant and gift shop
facilities. By a ten-to-one margin, they express
satisfaction with speed of baggage handling. 

7. Aircraft and Airline Preferences 

Interviewers sought to assess the degree to which
flyers prefer large jet airplanes vs. commuter planes.
A "strong" preference is indicated by 47% (continuing
an upward trend from 41% in 2002 and 36% in 2001); a
"moderate" preference is expressed by 34%, while 19%
have only a slight preference or don't care. 

Flyers provided evaluations of nine airlines. Those
who were familiar with a particular airline rated it
on a 0-to-10 scale (10 is most positive). The highest
scores are for Northwest and Continental; the next
tier is COMAIR/Delta, Southwest, Skyway/Midwest
Express, American, and United, while AirTran and
Allegiant are rated somewhat lower. There are modest
gains over 2002 for AirTran, Comair/Delta, and
Skyway/Midwest, and slight gains for Northwest,
American, and United; the Southwest score declined
over the past year. 

Regarding the Las Vegas flights on Allegiant Air, 69%
are aware of this new service. While only 5% have
flown it since summer, 32% say that they might fly
Allegiant to Las Vegas in the next year. 

8. Air Travel Information Sources 

Internet websites continue to be the leading source of
airfare information; the internet was cited by 77% of
the flyers (similar to the 80% figure in 2002). There
was a substantial decrease in mention of local travel
agents, from 61% in 2001 to 30% in 2002. Minor sources
are family and friends (7%), newspaper ads (2%), and
newspaper stories (2%). 

The internet websites used by local flyers are airline
sites (55%... up from 44%), Travelocity (23%... down
from 33%), Expedia (22%), and Orbitz (21%). The CCA
website was visited by 29% of respondents (a large
increase from 11% in 2002). In addition, 39% are aware
of the site (up from 28% last year). 

When searching websites, 75% of all flyers "usually"
check times/fares from LAN This is much higher than
those checking DTW (47%), GRR (29%), and FNT (24%);
each of these figures is about the same as 2002. 

Among those who attended local events (39% MSU
football, 26% Lugnuts, 13% Common Ground), 42% of
attendees reported that they noticed CCA messages at
these events. 

9. Media Exposure Patterns 

Seven out of every ten flyers read the Lansing State
Journal, including 38% who read at least five days per
week; this is slightly higher than last year. Readers
"usually" read the Front Page (79%), Local News (70%),
Living (70%), Business (66%), and Sports (65%); both
front page and local news readership has declined from
the previous surveys. The Sunday travel page is
usually read by 50% (up from 36%). 

In addition, 54% of local flyers at least occasionally
read the Michigan State News, 42% read the MSU sports
programs (up from 32% last year), 35% read Greater
Lansing Business Monthly (up from 22%), and 21% read
Noise (up from 8%). The Channel 6 WLNS evening news is
watched often or sometimes by 71% of the flyers, and
57% have seen the LAN weather camera during
weathercasts. Three-fourths of the sample watch MSU
football games on TV. 

Three-fourths listen to morning radio. The radio
stations most popular with flyers are WKAR-FM,
WJIM-FM, and WFMK-FM. One-third have heard messages
about LAN during radio weather forecasts, and 29% have
heard airport sponsorship messages on WKAR (up from
20% last year). 

10. Evaluation of Airport Ads 

Interviewers brought copies of the Sparty magazine ad
and several current radio spots. When asked to rate
the quality of the print ad, the average score is 7.0
on a 0 to 10 scale (compared to 6.2 for last year's
Holiday print ad). 

One-fifth recalled previously seeing the Sparty ad,
with an average of 3.5 exposures. 

Almost one-fourth of the flyers had heard the specimen
radio spot played for them by the interviewer,
reporting an average of 5.5 exposures to the message.
The average rating score for these ads is 6.7.



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