When it comes to travel, Americans appear to value safety over convenience — at least, according to the answers of the 1,007 people who took an online survey about it. According to the latest poll by HNTB Corp., what Americans want most when it comes to aviation infrastructure improvements is anything that will make us feel safer, both in terms of air traffic control and potential acts of in-air aggression (aka terrorist attacks). More than 62% of respondents said they care most about improvements to either in-flight or pre-flight safety, as opposed to a mere 21% that said they valued overall travel convenience, or the 12% that valued sustainability.
These results aren’t all that surprising, given the rash of safety-related incidents that have resulted in massive media coverage. There was the Christmas Day bombing attempt (which, studies now show, would not have been successful even if the bomber had managed to detonate his device) as well as the near-collision in Denver, and of course the small children making air-traffic control announcements at JFK. But as so many studies have shown, the relationship to how safe we feel versus how safe we actually are is skewed by all sorts of kinks in human perception. Which isn’t to say that air travel is as safe as it could be, or that our attempts to up safety levels have been effective and efficient (take a close look at the security theater going on in the average U.S. airport, and that notion flies out the window).
Still, the fact remains that on the whole, air travel is remarkably safe. What it is not is efficient — both in terms of travel times and in environmental impact. The efficiency problem is exemplified by the recent announcements by airlines that they’ll cancel flights rather than risk falling victim to the new federal fine that penalizes airlines for keeping passengers on the tarmac for three hours or more. Not a half hour, or even an hour. Three hours. That this new rule would be such a threat to major airlines is a definite sign that something is rotten in the state of air travel, besides just TSA.
Granted, this isn’t to say we shouldn’t take action to increase basic safety, such as the following:
A major component of future aviation infrastructure improvements is the Next Generation Air Transportation System, or NextGen, a satellite-based digital navigation and communication system designed to replace radar-based systems introduced in the 1940s. It has the potential to make modern air travel safer, more secure and more reliable. Currently, more than half of Americans (53 percent) support such a change.
Image: Cartoon News Magazine
March 11th, 2010 at 9:25 am
If this were true, Americans would be flying more and driving less as driving is 10 times more dangerous. But we aren’t. After 9/11 not only did 3,000 Americans die then but an additional 1,500 Americans died because they drove instead of flew because they were scared of flying.
So apparently it’s not actual safety that matters, it’s the *feeling* that they are safe, which is heavily influenced by the media. Pictures of planes flying into buildings and blowing up create fear, regardless of whether it is justified (more people are killed every year by law enforcement than that year by terrorists).
Good politicians seem to have this figured out: voters choose the candidate they like, that makes them feel good — rather than the one the supports their interests or values or opinions.
March 11th, 2010 at 9:35 am
To follow up on what Christopher Parker is saying above, its like an escape hatch on a submarine. Its to make momma feel better sitting back at home.
March 11th, 2010 at 1:14 pm
Christopher, there’s extensive risk perception literature on why people drive rather than fly. The main summary is:
1. People are more afraid of involuntary risks, which they perceive beyond their control, than of voluntary risks. You can avoid car accidents by being a good driver.
2. Not all drivers are equally dangerous. Accidents are disproportionately caused by bad behavior, such as drinking, or fast driving. Outside some risk-prone demographics, driving is much safer (though still not safer than flying).
3. Not all car trips are equally dangerous. Freeways are safer for the driver than city streets. Flying competes with freeway driving, not street driving.
4. Not all plane trips are equally dangerous. The most dangerous segments of a flight are takeoff and landing, so that short-haul flights are more dangerous than long-haul flights. It’s the short-haul flights that compete with driving, not the long-haul flights. People don’t drive from New York to Los Angeles unless they want to see sights on the way or have no money for a plane ticket.