FYV PASSENGER SURVEYS

Two University of Arkansas Sociology Professors, William A. Schwab and William D. Mangold, were hired by the City of Fayetteville to collect and analyze information about Drake Field's commercial passengers. Information was collected from several hundred individuals using self-administered surveys, structured interviews and other techniques. Findings from their studies were presented in three reports. Summaries of those reports (Study 1, Study 2 and Study 3) are presented below.

A Study of Use and Satisfaction Among Passengers at the Fayetteville Municipal Airport: Phase I (September, 1996) - Executive Summary [pages 15-16]

This report summarizes the findings of a self-administered survey administered between July 22 and August 11, 1996, at the Fayetteville Municipal Airport. The purpose of the survey was to describe (1) the characteristics of passengers and their satisfaction with and suggestions for improving the Fayetteville Airport, (2) the importance of airport and airline services in shaping travel plans, (3) the impact passengers have on the economy of Northwest Arkansas, (4) people's perceptions of the regional airport and how they think it will affect the region's air travel, and (5) passengers' use of Tulsa and other airports in the region.

The typical passenger flying from the Fayetteville airport is between the ages of 25 and 49 with an annual income of over $50,000. He or she flies frequently (almost nine times per year) and almost half of the flights are for business. Unlike our 1987 study, residents now make up most of the passengers flying from the Fayetteville Airport. Although residents make up slightly more than half of our sample, they accounted for nearly 70% of all enplanings (They average 12 flights per year). Resident business travelers are a large and important segment of the passengers. Although they made up only 23% of our sample, they accounted for 51% of all enplanings, flying an average of 19.4 flights per year.

Nonresident passengers had travel behavior similar to residents. Nonresidents flew an average of 5.3 times per year from Northwest Arkansas, but nonresident business travelers flew an average of eight times per year. Nonresidents flying to Northwest Arkansas typically visit one or more of the region's four largest cities.

Nonresident passengers stayed an average of seven days in Northwest Arkansas, and they spent an average of $1075 per visit, excluding the cost of airfare. We estimate the economic impact of nonresident travel to Northwest Arkansas to be over $130 million. The opening of the regional airport in 1999 will shift some of this economic activity to the northern tier of cities in the region.

The vast majority of passengers considered the number of flights, the ease of connections, the cost of airfare, the size of aircraft, and travel time to the airport to be important or very important to their travel plans. The more passengers flew the more important the number of flights, size of aircraft, travel time to the airport, and ease of connections. Business passengers were concerned with factors that contributed to fast and reliable air travel like number of flights and ease of connections. Nonbusiness flyers were more concerned with the cost of airfare and parking.

There is general satisfaction with the airline and terminal services at the Fayetteville Airport, some segments of the traveling public, however, were dissatisfied with airport services. For example, passengers from Northwest Arkansas were dissatisfied with parking and the airport restaurant. Business passengers were dissatisfied with the number of flights, car rentals, check-in, baggage handling, and telephones. A general finding was that the more passengers flew from the Fayetteville Airport the more dissatisfied they were with its overall service.

A significant number of Northwest Arkansas residents use other airports. Most of this travel is from Tulsa. The residents in our study had flown an average of two flights from other airports in the past year. Residents who had flown from other airports, averaged 4.4 flights from these airports in the past year. Passengers who use the Tulsa Airport dislike Drake Field. They are more dissatisfied than other passengers with the full range of services at the Fayetteville Airport. These are the same people who plan to fly from the regional airport exclusively, and they hold more positive perceptions of the regional airport than do other passengers. They predict dramatic increases in the number of flights, a decrease in airfare, and a decrease in driving time with its completion.

These important issues are currently being examined and will be discussed in detail in the second phase of the study.

In Phase II of our report, A Study of Use and Satisfaction Among Passengers at the Fayetteville Municipal Airport, we used structured interviews to explore problems and concerns identified in the Phase I, the questionnaire phase of our study. Experienced researchers interviewed 196 passengers at the Fayetteville Airport's two departure areas between September 11 and October 1 [1996]. The sample in Phase II mirrored the one in the earlier study: 53% of the passengers were from Northwest Arkansas, 56% of them were flying for business, and they averaged eight flights from Northwest Arkansas in the past year. Of importance to this study, 29% of the sample had used the Tulsa Airport in the past year for travel to and from Northwest Arkansas, 9% of the sample, three or more times.

We explored three issues in the interviews: first, the use and advantages of the Tulsa Airport over the Fayetteville Airport for travel to and from Northwest Arkansas; second, attitudes about the regional airport, and residents' perceptions of the advantages and disadvantages of the new airport for the flying they do. And third, residential passenger preferences for specific flight services.

Business (75%) was the predominant reason passengers gave for flying from Tulsa, and American Airlines was the predominant carrier followed by Southwest and Delta. The majority of Tulsa passengers were traveling to three major cities: Chicago, New York, and Dallas. The advantages and disadvantages of the two airports, identified by the Tulsa flyers, reflect the underlying markets they serve. Although Fayetteville has a relatively small market, when compared to Tulsa, Tulsa flyers acknowledged the large number of daily flights to surrounding hubs and Fayetteville's convenience. Fayetteville's major disadvantage was the airlines' use of smaller commuter aircraft. Fayetteville's disadvantage was Tulsa's advantages, and they are all related to market size. The advantages were direct jet service to major cities; the only disadvantage was the travel time to the airport.

We recognize that the Fayetteville Airport cannot compete with Tulsa on most flight characteristics; however, it can capitalize on its major advantage, convenience. From these findings, we recommend two lines of advertising. First, the airport should emphasize the door-to-door travel time from the two airports. When one includes the driving time to the Tulsa Airport along with the time for parking and check-in at a larger airport, Fayetteville probably has the advantage. Second, the public still thinks air travel from the Fayetteville Airport is unreliable. The Fayetteville Airport should emphasize the on-time record of its airlines, and future improvements in its all weather landing system.

Most resident passengers considered themselves to be well informed about the new regional airport (80%), and there was a high level of support for the new airport (73%). Most residents think the new airport will have the flight characteristics of the Tulsa Airport: larger planes, direct flights to major cities, but also convenience. They also mentioned more flights, better connections, and all weather flights. Resident passengers mentioned only one disadvantage, travel time to the airport. If all things were equal, a plurality (40%) of passengers plans to continue to use the Fayetteville Airport after the completion of the new airport in 1999.

In the final section of the survey, we explored the trade-offs passengers were willing to make between frequency of flights to hubs and large cities and type of aircraft. We used a variety of techniques to explore these trade-offs. We found that resident passengers prefer the following. First, they prefer frequent travel to the hubs currently served by the Fayetteville Airport with limited jet service to major cities. Second, resident business passengers want service that will get them to their final destinations, usually larger cities, as quickly as possible. Thus, they prefer jet service to major cities, and a choice of many hubs. Third, resident passengers who fly less frequently (probably flying for vacation or other reasons) have travel plans that are less time sensitive but more cost sensitive. They want low cost airfare. Regardless of the characteristic, all resident passengers in our sample prefer some jet service.

Although the findings we present are an accurate depiction of current perceptions about the regional airport, respondents have little or no factual information about the air travel options that will be available at the new airport. Because they lack specific details about the new airport, these perceptions are ideals. It appears that many respondents perceive the new airport as satisfying their personal flying needs; flyers who want jet service see the new airport as providing this service, while flyers wanting frequent hub flights see the new airport as satisfying this need. To the extent that these expectations are met, then we regard our conclusions as valid. However, once the regional airport is operational specific choices may differ from those presented here and the decisions about the choice of airports may differ from the ideals presented here.

Two University of Arkansas professors, William Schwab and William Mangold have completed a study of passenger travel patterns and residences for the Fayetteville Municipal Airport. The study was based on U.S. Census data, 300 personal interviews with flyers, and a survey of 900 persons exiting long-term parking at Drake Field. The study found that on average, travel time to Drake Field is about nine minutes less than to the proposed regional airport. Residents of Fayetteville and surrounding communities estimate that the trip to the regional airport will add about 29 minutes to their travel, while residents of Bentonville and Rogers will see a 20 minute decrease in their trip to the regional airport. However, because of the population distribution in the region and differences in the proportion of people that fly in various communities, the report concludes that Drake Field is more convenient for a majority of flyers.

The study also examined the relationship between the population distribution in the region and the proportion of flyers by analyzing the proportion of air passengers from various communities who use Drake Field in relation to Census data. Among the larger cities in the region, Springdale and Rogers have low rates of air travel. Bentonville's relatively small population of slightly under 18,000, limits it to 19 per cent of air travel. The study also notes that Fayetteville's flying rate is above average and, with a population of 57,000, its residents account for 35 percent of all departures from Drake Field. Fayetteville is the primary city in the Fayetteville Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The Fayetteville MSA is composed of the Fayetteville central city and Benton and Washington Counties. Fayetteville should continue to be the largest city in the MSA for the foreseeable future.

In a separate analysis the study estimated that nearly 69,000 people live within 10 miles of Drake Field, while 46,000 live within the same distance of the Northwest Airport under construction.