| |
| |
One moment, please... we are searching the archive.
|
|
|
Hospitality Industry Trends |
Saturday July 4th, 2009 |
 |
Business Travelers Demand Refunds For Delayed Flights |
|
Travel delays remain a problem for business travelers and a recent survey has found that more than 80% feel airlines should provide a sliding scale refund if flights are late. |
Directravel, a leading corporate travel management company, today released the results of its questionnaire asking business travelers about their experiences with flight delays.
When asked about their tolerance for the length of delays, the survey found that 83% of respondents felt that a delay of up to 30 minutes was acceptable, while 45% were upset by and 46% felt that delays of over 1 hour were completely unacceptable.
"Better practices for reducing delays must be implemented sooner rather than later," said Directravel's Chairman and CEO, Vincent Vitti. "This survey shows there is some tolerance from travelers of the delay situation but that does not mean the solutions offered to date have been by any means successful."
"We recognize that flight delays cause our clients time and productivity losses, in addition to increases in actual hard dollar expenses," said Patrick Fragale, president of Directravel. "Our goal has always been to help manage bottom line expenses and adapt our services so that our clients get the most from their travel program."
In addition, it was found that:
• While 46% of those surveyed would be willing to pay a little more if the airline arrived on time, more than half felt that they were already paying for a service that should be delivered as scheduled.
• Sixty-two percent of those surveyed would be willing to travel to a regional airport if they were assured they could avoid delays
• Eighty-four percent would be willing to depart between 10am and 2pm if they could be assured this would avoid delays.
• Twenty-eight percent felt that their flights were delayed 50% or more of the time.
• More than half of respondents, 64%, did not feel delays were limited to a particular carrier
Of the comments submitted by respondents, many felt that delays based on weather or for safety-related issues were more easily tolerated, while honesty from airline employees went a long way in reducing the negative impact caused by a delay.
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
|
Online source for travel industry news. Part of the Nevistas network of travel and hospitality industry web sites. |
|
|
|
Add Content
Get Content
Trends Mailing
Saved Articles
Advertising
Handheld
XML/RSS
PDF this article
Post News