Every day, whether it’s for business, leisure, or a combination of both, an average of 8 million people take commercial airplane flights. Around 78% of domestic trips, however, are taken for leisure activities.
Commercial Air Travel Passenger Statistics
In 2013 alone, there were 3.1 billion passengers flying on various commercial airlines. This year marks the first time ever that the number of commercial air travelers exceeded 3 billion.
Direct Spending for Commercial Air Travel in the United States
Given the number of flights that are made every year, it’s interesting to note just how much is actually spent on a daily basis. When traveling throughout the United States, resident and international travelers are responsible for direct spending in the following average amounts:
- Per day: $2.5 billion
- Per hour: $105.8 million
- Per minute: $1.8 million
- Per second: $29,398
The Importance of Having In-Flight Entertainment Systems
Travelers tend to expect in-flight entertainment systems (IFE) on-board their flights. In addition to watching films on aircraft display monitors, they also like being able to access free WiFi so they can watch movies, television, or listen to music on their own laptops or iPads.
According to the participants in “TripAdvisor’s 2013 Air Travel Survey,” access to free WiFi makes a significant difference. In fact, 25% of the participants stated that they would choose an airline that offered free WiFi over an airline that didn’t.
The above survey also found that 37% of the respondents believed it’s essential for them to be able to bring their iPad or tablet as a carry-on. This is 5% higher than figures from the previous year. While passengers will obviously use their smartphones for a variety of reasons, 56% stated that they used their’s for flight status alerts. This amounted to a 10% increase from the prior year.
Since many passengers might have lay-overs, or will otherwise be in the air for long periods of time, they usually need to charge or power-up their smartphones and other devices. This is why having access to in-seat USB power modules is such a popular and welcome amenity.
What Passengers Enjoy Doing While in Flight
While 17% of airline passengers prefer to take a nap or sleep while on-board, 21% enjoy reading. Movie watching is the preferred form of passing time for 41% of airline passengers, however.
When they’re not watching movies on their own devices, many passengers like having inflight entertainment systems. It can be much more comfortable for passengers to just be able to lean back in their seats to view state-of-the-art aircraft display systems.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
When traveling by plane, many passengers are curious about the aircraft itself. Aviation enthusiasts in particular tend to enjoy learning a few facts about the planes in which they’re flying. It can be fascinating for people of all ages to learn a fact or 2 about how commercial aircraft are maintained at FAA repair stations.
As their name implies, FAA repair stations are FAA-certified to adhere to strict safety regulations. It’s important to know that FAA repair stations keep commercial aircraft in optimal working order.
