Air Travel Under Pressure: How Passenger Safety Perceptions Are Shifting

In the first half of 2025, there were over 60 air travel saftety incidents in the US alone. A new story about an incident related to air travel safety seems to come up every week. Whether it is near misses with other aircrafts, crash landings, or other incidents, concerns about air travel safety are top of mind with passengers and industry leaders right now. We wanted to better understand consumer sentiment around air travel safety and how it has changed compared to last year, so we asked about it in our latest round of research-on-research. We condensed the results of the original five-point scale into three categories: Less safe (B2B), No change, and More safe (T2B), offering a simplified view of shifts across demographics.

Overall

We found that overall, 36% of respondents feel air travel is less safe than a year ago. A smaller share, 25%, believe it is safer, while 39%, the largest group, say their perception has not changed. Among those who have had a shift in sentiment are split between greater worry and more confidence.

Gender

When looking at gender, female respondents are far more likely to view air travel as less safe, with 44% sharing this concern compared to 27% of males. Meanwhile, 38% of men and 40% of women say their perception has not changed, showing some alignment. Where the contrast is most evident is on the positive side: 35% of men feel travel is safer, versus only 16% of women.

Age

The sentiment around air travel varies strongly across age groups, with older respondents generally more cautious. More than half (55%) of those 65+ say air travel feels less safe, compared to only 29% among 18–24-year-olds. Younger groups are also far more likely to see improvements, with 34–37% of respondents under 45 saying travel feels safer, compared to just 5% of those 65 and older. The middle-aged brackets (45–64) lean more toward concern, with 41% saying air travel feels less safe.

Income

Income also shapes sentiment, with higher earners displaying more confidence in safety. Among those making $100,000 or more, 39% feel safer, while just 28% say air travel was less safe. The opposite is seen among lower- and middle-income groups, where 38–44% feel less safe, and only about 21–22% see improvements.

The strongest sense of stability comes from those earning under $20,000, with nearly half (47%) reporting no change.

Political Affiliation

Political affiliation plays a notable role in how air travel safety is viewed. Among Democrats, 44% feel less safe compared to last year, higher than Republicans at 28% and Independents at 37%. In contrast, 34% of Republicans feel safer, more than double the 17% of Independents and 23% of Democrats. 

Region

Regional variation is moderate but noticeable. In the Northeast and Midwest, 37–38% feel less safe, while the South is slightly lower at 34%. The West is similar to the Midwest, with 37% less safe. When it comes to stability, the Midwest stands out with 43% reporting no change, compared to 35% in the Northeast and about 39% in both the South and West. On the more positive side, 27% of respondents in the Northeast and South feel safer, compared to 19% in the Midwest and 23% in the West.

Ethnicity

Breaking down the data by ethnicity highlights some additional differences. Caucasian respondents are the most likely to say travel feels less safe, with 38% holding this view, while Hispanic/Latino respondents are the least concerned at 25%. On the other hand, African American (33%) and Hispanic/Latino (37%) respondents are more likely than Caucasian respondents (22%) to feel that air travel is safer than last year. 

Panel

The differences in air travel sentiment are striking when breaking the data down by panel. Panel N shows the highest concern, with 52% saying less safe and only 8% saying more safe. By contrast, Panel H shows the most optimism, with 42% feeling safer versus 24% less safe — the largest gap between any two panels. Panels J and L land in the middle, with more balanced but still varied outlooks

These differences only highlight the importance of strategic sample blending when you are fielding an online quantitative study. Individual panels or randomly aggregated panels can lead you to insights that are incorrect and can lead to wasted time and money.

Learn more about EMI’s strategic sample blending approach by clicking the button below.