Airline Competition Survey. A COMPAS Report to the National Post

Transcription

1 Airline Competition Survey A COMPAS Report to the National Post COMPAS Inc. Public Opinion and Customer Research Toronto / Ottawa May 14, 2001

2 Canadians Cry Out for Foreign Airline Competition A two-thirds majority of Canadians want government to allow foreign airline competition. In response to a direct probe, 1 66 of respondents say that the government should definitely or probably allow foreign airline competition, as shown in table 1 below. Only one in four Canadians believes that government should probably or definitely allow foreign airline competition. Among Canadians with strong views on the matter those who would definitely allow or definitely allow foreign competition advocates of foreign competition outnumber more than 3:1 their opponents. Table 1: Should the government allow foreign airline competition. definitely, probably, probably, definitely? Definitely should allow 36 Probably should allow 30 Probably allow 13 Definitely allow 11 Unprompted: No opinion 10 As may be expected given that opinion is relatively one-sided on the subject, support for foreign competition is virtually homogeneous across voter segments and key demographic indicators such as age, gender, language, education, and region. 1 Should the government allow foreign airline competition. definitely, probably, probably, definitely? 2

3 Support for Foreign Competition Rooted in Lukewarm Satisfaction with Canadian Airlines and Desire to Improve Airline Prices and Service Lukewarm Attitudes to Canadian Airlines Support for foreign competition appears to be rooted in Canadians middling or lukewarm satisfaction with our airlines. Respondents were asked: How would you rate Canadian airlines in terms of price and service very good, good, poor, or very poor? For Canadian airlines, the best news is that the largest portion of the public, 42, rates their price and service as good. However, only 4 would rate their price and service as very good while very sizeable minorities rate them as poor or very poor, as evidenced in table 2. Perhaps the ultimate indicator of Canadians lukewarm attitudes towards our airlines is that 27 say that they have no opinion of the quality of Canadian airlines in terms of price and service. Table 2: How would you rate Canadian airlines in terms of price and service very good, good, poor, or very poor? Very good 4 Good 42 Poor 21 Very Poor 5 Unprompted: No opinion 27 Support for foreign airline competition is highest among Canadians who are most dissatisfied with our airlines while being lowest among those who are the most satisfied. In practice, 54 of those who assign a very poor rating 2 to Canadian airlines think that prices and services would definitely improve if there were foreign airline competition compared to 50 among those who assign a poor rating, 33 among those assigning poor? 2 How would you rate Canadian airlines in terms of price and service very good, good, poor, or very 3

4 a good rating, and 23 among those who assign a very good rating. Furthermore, 54 of those who assign either a poor or very poor rating to Canadian airlines think that the government should definitely allow foreign competition compared to 27 among those who assign either a good or very good rating. Expectation that Foreign Competition Would Improve Service and Pricing Support for foreign airline competition is rooted in the expectation that airline service and prices would improve in the face of greater foreign competition. Respondents were asked: Do you think that prices and service would improve if there were foreign airline competition in Canada definitely, probably, probably, definitely? A clear majority (73) of Canadians feel that airline prices and service would definitely or probably improve if our airlines had to share the skies with foreign competitors, as shown in table 3 below. Table 3: Do you think that prices and service would improve if there were foreign airline competition in Canada definitely, probably, probably, definitely? Definitely would improve 35 Probably would improve 38 Probably improve 12 Definitely improve 6 Unprompted: No opinion 10 A strong statistical relationship emerges between expectations that price and service would improve under more foreign competition and support for more foreign competition, as shown in table 4. Thus, 68 of those who definitely feel that prices and service would improve also feel that the government should definitely allow foreign airline competition. Meanwhile, 68 of those who feel that prices and service would definitely improve in the face of foreign competition think that government should definitely allow foreign airline competition. 4

5 Table 4: Should the government allow foreign airline competition? by Do you think that prices and service would improve if there were foreign airline competition in Canada? Should the government allow foreign airline competition? Do you think that prices and service would improve if there were foreign airline competition in Canada Definitely Probably Probably Definitely No opinion Definitely Probably Probably Definitely No opinion Canadians Are Divided About Airline Merger Canadians are divided about Air Canada s merger with Canadian Airlines. Respondents were asked: Do you approve of Air Canada's merger with Canadian Airlines definitely, probably, probably, definitely?? Slightly under half (49) of Canadians definitely or probably approve of the merger. The remaining half of Canadians probably or definitely does approve (37) or has no opinion (14) about the merger, as shown in table 5 below. 5

6 Table 5: Do you approve of Air Canada's merger with Canadian Airlines definitely, probably, probably, definitely? Definitely approve 24 Probably approve 25 Probably approve 13 Definitely approve 24 Unprompted: No opinion 14 The youngest Canadians are especially apt to approve of the merger. In practice, 61 of those under 30 definitely or probably approve of the merger compared to 49 among Canadians as a whole. The least educated Canadians appear least apt to offer an opinion about the merger. In practice, 46 of Canadians with an elementary school education have no opinion about the merger, compared to a 14 no opinion rate among Canadians as a whole. Methodology The national, representative sample of 500 Canadian adults was interviewed May 9-10, Samples of this size are deemed accurate to within 4.5 percentage points 19 times out of 20. The principal investigators on this study were Dr. Conrad Winn ( ext. 40) and Robert Laufer ( ext. 24). 6