Travel Demand is Strong But It's Far From Guaranteed
Despite disruptions, the appetite for travel is there. Around 43% of passengers have already booked travel this year, with another 28% actively considering it. 29% aren’t planning to travel at all.
More telling is how passengers feel about the experience itself. Around 57% say travel feels the same as previous trips. Only 16% say it’s improved.
That means passengers aren’t noticing any improvements to their experience, which means there’s no clear reason for hesitant travelers to change their minds and no strong reason for existing customers to feel loyal.
Focusing on employee experience is what’s going to give airlines the customer experience that sets them apart.
Travelers Can See Where Employee Experience is Falling Short
For all the investment in digital tools, it’s still people who define the passenger experience. And the better equipped they are, the better that experience is.
- Only around 18% of staff are seen as fully equipped with the real-time information they need to help passengers in the moment.
- About 65% of passengers say frontline staff need more training, while only 15% believe current training is fully adequate.
- Around 88% of passengers believe how staff are treated directly affects how passengers are treated.
- Flight attendants have the biggest impact according to 58% of passengers, followed closely by airport staff at 53%.
Insufficient Training Leads to Insufficient Communication for Travelers
65% of travelers say communication their top expectation when it comes airline travel, above everything else. But consistent communication is impossible with staff that isn’t properly equipped.
- Only about 26% of passengers receive timely updates during major disruptions, while around 39% receive no proactive notice at all.
- Nearly two-thirds of travelers (64%) report feeling disconnected from travel information during their journey, and 38% say they’ve encountered conflicting information from different sources.
Investing in employee experience, especially for frontline workers, isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a major differentiator when it comes to customer experience.
The Opportunity: Fix Communication, Empower Staff, Unlock Growth
The data points toward a clear set of priorities for airlines that want to grow in 2026 and beyond.
The first is real-time, connected communication across every channel. Passengers need consistent information whether they’re looking at an app, listening to a gate announcement, or asking a member of staff. Fragmented messages erode trust quickly and are hard to rebuild.
The key to this lies in frontline enablement. Staff can only deliver the calm, transparent communication passengers need if they have access to accurate, live information themselves. Closing the gap between what employees know and what passengers need to hear starts with giving frontline teams the right tools and training. Happier customers come from connected employees
Employee experience is a core driver of customer experience outcomes. The 88% of passengers who draw a direct line between how staff are treated and how passengers are treated are telling airlines exactly what to prioritize. Organizations that invest in their frontline workers — in their confidence, their information access, and their training — will consistently outperform those that don’t.
Growth in aviation won’t come from adding another channel or rolling out another app. It’ll come from better connecting people, information, and the moments that matter most to passengers. The airlines that figure that out first will be the ones that pull ahead.
Survey Methodology
Unily surveyed a total of 1,000 U.S. respondents between the ages of 18-55+ in April 2026.
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